Yousif Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 93,085 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 7,280 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $12,187,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BX. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 763.0% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Family CFO Inc bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Reginald J. Brown acquired 2,400 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $125.62 per share, with a total value of $301,488.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 16,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,129,133.38. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $123.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,004,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,689,061. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.92 and a 12-month high of $133.56. The company has a market cap of $88.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.20.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.8 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 132.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $125.00 price target (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.65.

About Blackstone

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.