Sandbox Financial Partners LLC Has $1.60 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sandbox Financial Partners LLC trimmed its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,194 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 239 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises approximately 0.7% of Sandbox Financial Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Sandbox Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 327.1% in the 3rd quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 252 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

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

Blackstone Stock Up 0.4 %

Blackstone stock opened at $131.37 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.29 and a fifty-two week high of $133.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.79, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.00.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.16. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 17.34%. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.92 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 5th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 2nd. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 205.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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 report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $120.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.53.

Blackstone Profile

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.