Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by F m Investments LLC

Key Points

• F m Investments LLC reduced its Blackstone stake by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,270 shares and leaving it with 68,083 shares valued at about $10.49 million.
• Insider selling has been notable: Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares in May, and Blackstone insiders sold 9.1 million shares worth about $45.98 million over the last 90 days.
• Blackstone reported mixed fundamentals, beating EPS estimates with $1.36 per share on revenue of $3.43 billion, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $1.16 per share, implying a 3.8% yield.

F m Investments LLC lowered its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,083 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 8,270 shares during the period. F m Investments LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $10,494,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after acquiring an additional 840,258 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Blackstone by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,358,334,000 after purchasing an additional 412,281 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Blackstone by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,251,474,000 after purchasing an additional 329,379 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Blackstone by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,677,997 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $799,236,000 after purchasing an additional 145,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,107,665 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $701,795,000 after purchasing an additional 416,933 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This trade represents a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 9,103,660 shares of company stock valued at $45,982,920 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on BX. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $138.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $173.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, April 24th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $150.95.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $123.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $91.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.17. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. 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 (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. Blackstone's payout ratio is 118.67%.

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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