Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 5,950 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL decreased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,819 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,950 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $15,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 52,530 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,628,000 after buying an additional 2,069 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 57,613 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,543,000 after buying an additional 12,878 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Blackstone by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 15,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $463,000. Finally, PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 9,931 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Argus lifted their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.56.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded up $1.98 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $142.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,262,890 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,826,148. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.50. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.59 and a 1-year high of $145.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $125.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 117.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,115,488.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.