Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Atria Investments Inc

Key Points

• Atria Investments Inc cut its Blackstone stake by 49.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 27,993 shares and ending with 28,860 shares valued at about $4.45 million.
• Several other institutional investors also adjusted positions, and hedge funds and institutions own 70% of Blackstone’s stock, indicating continued heavy institutional ownership.
• Blackstone’s stock has seen mixed analyst sentiment: firms such as Morgan Stanley and Oppenheimer trimmed price targets, while the overall consensus remains “Hold” with a target price of $151.36.

Atria Investments Inc decreased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 49.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,860 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 27,993 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc's holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,449,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $151.36.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the transaction, the insider owned 899,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total value of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at $90,670.32. This represents a 99.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 4,015,297 shares of company stock valued at $105,053,996 and sold 9,128,660 shares valued at $46,457,920. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $117.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company's 50-day moving average price is $117.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.76. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The stock has a market cap of $87.63 billion, a PE ratio of 30.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. Blackstone's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 118.67%.

Blackstone 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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