Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 62,085 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its Blackstone stake by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 62,085 shares and leaving it with 675,844 shares valued at about $104.2 million.
• Blackstone’s latest earnings beat analyst expectations, with quarterly EPS of $1.36 versus $1.34 expected and revenue up 10% year over year to $3.43 billion.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the stock carries an average “Hold” rating, though several firms raised price targets, and Blackstone also recently paid a quarterly dividend of $1.16 per share.

Bessemer Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 675,844 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 62,085 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Blackstone worth $104,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Family CFO Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $156.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $151.36.

Blackstone Stock Down 3.7%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $117.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $87.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.63. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The business's 50 day moving average is $117.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 2,868,069 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $75,000,004.35. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 18,628,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $487,129,914.25. This represents a 18.20% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 4,015,297 shares of company stock valued at $105,053,996 and have sold 9,128,660 shares valued at $46,457,920. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Company 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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