1832 Asset Management L.P. Lowers Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• 1832 Asset Management L.P. reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 64.5% during the first quarter, holding 97,182 shares worth approximately $13.58 million after selling 176,353 shares.
• Blackstone reported earnings per share of $1.21 for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.10, with a revenue of $3.07 billion, up 32.7% from the previous year.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03, leading to an annualized dividend of $4.12, with a current dividend yield of 2.4%.

1832 Asset Management L.P. lowered its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 64.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 97,182 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 176,353 shares during the quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $13,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth $36,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $170.2430 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $125.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.71. The business has a fifty day moving average of $161.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $149.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The company's revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 110.75%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total transaction of $8,829,594.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 737,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $128,015,742.72. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total value of $16,736,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 808,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $135,353,571.52. This represents a 11.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and have sold 16,850,134 shares worth $131,641,986. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Saturday, July 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $170.12.

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.

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