Bessemer Group Inc. Sells 866,851 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Bessemer Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 47.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 952,518 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 866,851 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Blackstone worth $133,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $63,109,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $1,747,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 716,319 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $123,508,000 after buying an additional 5,951 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 4.1%

BX opened at $144.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.23. The company has a market cap of $105.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 112.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BX. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $155.65.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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