LGT Capital Partners LTD. Sells 100,000 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. decreased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 29.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 235,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 100,000 shares during the period. LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $30,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. increased its position in Blackstone by 56.1% in the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 1,530 shares during the last quarter. United Bank raised its holdings in Blackstone by 34.2% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 8,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Insight Advisors LLC PA boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.6% during the first quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 18,446 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,341,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 38,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,878,000 after buying an additional 4,366 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 232 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on BX shares. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. TD Cowen started coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $118.00 price target on the stock. TheStreet downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Blackstone from $120.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.53.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $131.38 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.29 and a 52-week high of $133.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $125.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.79, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.16. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 17.34%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.48 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 12th. Investors of record on Monday, February 5th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 205.46%.

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.