Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Trims Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC reduced its stake in Blackstone by 23.0%, selling 9,557 shares and ending the quarter with 31,924 shares valued at about $4.92 million.
• Blackstone beat the quarter with EPS $1.36 (vs. $1.34 expected) and $3.62 billion in revenue, up 10% year‑over‑year, while analysts forecast roughly 6.07 EPS for the current year.
• The report notes large insider sales (Bx Buzz Ml‑1 sold ~7.48 million shares; Tactical Opportunit sold ~1.6 million) alongside heavy institutional ownership—about 70% of the stock held by hedge funds and other institutions.

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,924 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 9,557 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,921,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,100,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,060 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings 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 worth $194,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,197 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings 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 worth $162,861,000 after purchasing an additional 583,384 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 11.3% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,107,665 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $701,795,000 after purchasing an additional 416,933 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,358,334,000 after purchasing an additional 412,281 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $120.50 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The stock's fifty day moving average is $116.41 and its 200-day moving average is $137.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 6.07 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 152.43%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was 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 owned 25,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at $90,670.32. This trade represents a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on BX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $173.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $140.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $151.73.

About Blackstone

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.

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