Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Avanza Fonder AB

Key Points

• Avanza Fonder AB has reduced its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 6.1%, now owning 49,926 shares after selling 3,216 during the second quarter.
• Insider transactions showed significant activity, including Vikrant Sawhney selling 50,850 shares at an average price of $173.64, reducing their ownership in Blackstone by 6.45%.
• Blackstone recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.03 per share from the previous $0.93, indicating a strong commitment to returning capital to shareholders.

Avanza Fonder AB lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,926 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,216 shares during the quarter. Avanza Fonder AB's holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,468,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $184.92. 1,367,105 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,153,842. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock's 50-day moving average is $173.16 and its 200-day moving average is $151.89. The firm has a market cap of $136.30 billion, a PE ratio of 49.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $1.03 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 453,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. This represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 2,538,071 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.61 per share, with a total value of $64,999,998.31. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 7,506,209 shares in the company, valued at $192,234,012.49. The trade was a 51.09% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 3,727,877 shares of company stock valued at $95,046,625 and have sold 16,871,634 shares valued at $135,328,376. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Saturday, July 19th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.38.

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.