Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP Decreases Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP lessened its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 17.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 126,850 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 26,183 shares during the quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $14,586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 9.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its holdings in Blackstone by 14.7% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,703,000 after buying an additional 8,655 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone bought 9,486,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 765,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $206,039,270.30. This trade represents a 10.75% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $132.42 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $98.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.62, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.58. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $120.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.36.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 103.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BX. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Zacks Research raised Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.76.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.