Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 675,844 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 62,085 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $104,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,100,868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,060 shares in the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $194,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,197 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Blackstone by 115.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $162,861,000 after acquiring an additional 583,384 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 11.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,107,665 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $701,795,000 after acquiring an additional 416,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,358,334,000 after buying an additional 412,281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 2,868,069 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $75,000,004.35. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 18,628,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $487,129,914.25. This represents a 18.20% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This trade represents a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 4,015,297 shares of company stock valued at $105,053,996 and sold 9,128,660 shares valued at $46,457,920. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $117.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $87.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.63. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $117.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $134.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BX. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $138.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, HSBC decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.36.

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.