Axiom Investors LLC DE Cuts Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Axiom Investors LLC DE reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 15.9%, owning approximately 1.67 million shares after selling 314,815 shares, making Blackstone 2.2% of its portfolio.
• Blackstone recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03, an increase from the prior dividend of $0.93, with an annual yield of 2.4%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Blackstone shares, with a price target of $172.38 according to MarketBeat.com.

Axiom Investors LLC DE reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 15.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,670,077 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 314,815 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for 2.2% of Axiom Investors LLC DE's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Axiom Investors LLC DE owned 0.23% of Blackstone worth $233,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 105.4% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 6,878 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $1,747,000. Narwhal Capital Management boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 34.3% during the first quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 64,614 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $9,032,000 after purchasing an additional 16,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter worth about $794,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total value of $8,829,594.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 737,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at $128,015,742.72. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total transaction of $16,736,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 808,757 shares in the company, valued at $135,353,571.52. The trade was a 11.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and have sold 16,871,634 shares worth $135,328,376. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock traded up $6.26 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $184.49. 3,972,618 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,158,148. The company's fifty day moving average is $168.94 and its 200-day moving average is $150.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $135.98 billion, a PE ratio of 49.56, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

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.