Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 720,712 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 56,003 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $94,356,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 763.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $117.99. 4,411,372 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,691,220. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.92 and a 12 month high of $133.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $125.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $118.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.79.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 2.81%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.65.

Blackstone Company 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.