Bamco Inc. NY Cuts Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Bamco Inc. NY trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 580,010 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 36,232 shares during the quarter. Bamco Inc. NY owned approximately 0.08% of Blackstone worth $89,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its holdings in Blackstone by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,703,000 after acquiring an additional 8,655 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Argus lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,236,000. This trade represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 2,868,069 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $75,000,004.35. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,628,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $487,129,914.25. This represents a 18.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders acquired a total of 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 2.3%

NYSE BX opened at $124.89 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $120.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

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.