Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Northeast Investment Management

Northeast Investment Management reduced its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 15.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 176,004 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 31,509 shares during the quarter. Northeast Investment Management’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $20,239,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BX. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,888 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 2.9% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,411 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN grew its holdings in Blackstone by 32.3% in the first quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 64,294 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,393,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701 shares during the last quarter. Balance Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 25.9% in the first quarter. Balance Wealth LLC now owns 1,894 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth about $4,393,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Argus lowered their target price on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, HSBC cut their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.86.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $114.17 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $120.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $129.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $84.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.59. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. As a group, 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.67%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the transaction, the insider owned 899,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,169,363.51. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This trade represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.