Holdings L.P. Blackstone Sells 25,000 Shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) major shareholder Holdings L.P. Blackstone sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $475,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 125,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,375,000. This represents a 16.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $119.63 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $116.78 and a 200-day moving average of $135.10.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 118.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Blackstone by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,065,374,000 after buying an additional 636,613 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,861,885,000 after acquiring an additional 179,213 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $1,275,747,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,251,474,000 after purchasing an additional 329,379 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on Blackstone from $138.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. HSBC decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Citizens Jmp reduced their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.36.

Key Stories Impacting Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director Ruth Porat made two small open-market purchases of Blackstone shares, a signal investors often view as insider confidence in the company’s outlook. Ruth Porat insider purchase
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies raised its price target on Blackstone to $152 and kept a buy rating, reinforcing expectations for upside relative to recent trading levels. Jefferies raises target on Blackstone
• Positive Sentiment: Bloomberg reported Blackstone is raising money for a third private-equity fund focused on longer-duration holdings, which could support future fee-related earnings and expand its core PE franchise. Blackstone core private equity fund
• Positive Sentiment: Blackstone continues to benefit from strategic activity in alternative assets, including the monetization of its music catalog, which highlights the value of its investment platform. Sony royalties story
• Neutral Sentiment: Blackstone disclosed a prior sale of 25,000 shares by a major shareholder, but the move was small relative to the company’s size and appears more procedural than a major signal. Blackstone shareholder sale filing
• Neutral Sentiment: The stock remains below its 200-day moving average and has lagged the broader market over the past six months, so investors may still be treating the name as a turnaround-and-recovery story. Blackstone recent performance commentary
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst opinion is still mixed overall, with some firms downgrading or maintaining cautious stances despite the latest upgrade, which may limit enthusiasm near term.

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.