Assetmark Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. reduced its Blackstone stake by 20.5% in the first quarter, selling 13,625 shares and leaving it with 52,853 shares valued at about $6.08 million.
• Blackstone reported Q1 earnings of $1.36 per share, topping analyst estimates, while revenue came in at $3.43 billion versus expectations of $3.45 billion and rose 10% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on BX, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $145.71, though recent target changes were mixed across firms.

Assetmark Inc. cut its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 20.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,853 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 13,625 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PeakShares LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 42.1% during the 1st quarter. PeakShares LLC now owns 9,277 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 2,749 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $103,000. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,903,000. Avalon Trust Co increased its holdings in Blackstone by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 2,999 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 20.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 301,172 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $34,433,000 after acquiring an additional 52,163 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.4%

Blackstone stock opened at $124.13 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $119.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.27. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The stock has a market cap of $92.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $145.71.

Blackstone 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.

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