Bailard Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Bailard Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,685 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 131 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 30.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,652,526,000 after purchasing an additional 14,396,655 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 13,816.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,623,868 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,744,370,000 after purchasing an additional 3,597,828 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 43.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,877,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $736,833,000 after purchasing an additional 2,098,150 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 255.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,698,085 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $289,073,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $190,920,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $122.44 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $125.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.92 and a 12-month high of $133.56. The firm has a market cap of $87.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.27, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 132.86%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total transaction of $3,694,498.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total value of $6,268,570.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 393,143 shares in the company, valued at $50,294,783.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BX. TheStreet downgraded Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.