Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Sells 4,795 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 2.1%, now holding 225,902 shares valued at approximately $31.58 million.
• Several analysts have upgraded their price targets for Blackstone, with Piper Sandler increasing it to $181.00 and Evercore ISI raising it to $197.00, reflecting positive market sentiment.
• Blackstone’s quarterly dividend was recently increased to $1.03 per share, representing a yield of 2.4%, up from the previous dividend of $0.93.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lessened its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 225,902 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 4,795 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $31,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were 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. This represents a 11.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total transaction of $8,829,594.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 737,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $128,015,742.72. This trade represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and sold 16,850,134 shares worth $131,641,986. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock traded up $0.31 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $171.74. 2,051,640 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,226,161. The company has a 50-day moving average of $163.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $149.56. The company has a market capitalization of $126.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.71. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays upped their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Saturday, July 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.