Sanders Morris Harris LLC Has $14.35 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Sanders Morris Harris LLC decreased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 121,948 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 10,996 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises about 8.3% of Sanders Morris Harris LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Sanders Morris Harris LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $14,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,065,374,000 after buying an additional 636,613 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Blackstone by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after buying an additional 179,213 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Blackstone by 3.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,538,067 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,326,762,000 after acquiring an additional 384,264 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $1,275,747,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. This represents a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,236,000. The trade was a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 10,825,959 shares of company stock worth $224,789,900 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $136.03 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $122.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $123.17. The firm has a market cap of $101.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 115.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BX shares. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Argus upped their price target on Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.95.

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.