Norden Group LLC Sells 723 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Norden Group LLC lowered its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 30.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,683 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 723 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 10.4% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 25,804 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,765,000 after buying an additional 2,427 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $424,000. Hartford Financial Management Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 77.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 434 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 71,841 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,697,000 after purchasing an additional 13,602 shares during the period. Finally, Nadler Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $214,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.65.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of BX opened at $117.47 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.92 and a 52-week high of $133.56. The company has a market cap of $83.95 billion, a PE ratio of 41.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $125.45 and a 200 day moving average of $118.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.31%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 232 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at $4,349,313. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.