Ameriprise Financial Inc. Trims Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 0.7%, owning approximately 2,856,074 shares valued at $399.2 million after selling 20,809 shares.
• Blackstone announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.93 to $1.03 per share, with the next dividend yield at 2.5% and a payout ratio of 110.75%.
• Despite the stake reduction by Ameriprise, institutional investors still hold 70% of Blackstone's stock, with recent reports indicating mixed but generally favorable ratings from analysts.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,856,074 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 20,809 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.39% of Blackstone worth $399,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 26,381 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,549,000 after purchasing an additional 2,988 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 60.8% in the 4th quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 426 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Burling Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $16,503,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 33,344 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,749,000 after buying an additional 2,673 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total value of $8,829,594.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 737,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,015,742.72. This trade represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.97, for a total value of $1,597,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 54,488 shares in the company, valued at $9,261,325.36. The trade was a 14.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and have sold 16,850,134 shares worth $131,641,986. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock traded up $6.8030 during trading on Friday, reaching $170.2430. The company had a trading volume of 5,187,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,728,099. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $161.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.41. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.48 billion, a PE ratio of 45.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's payout ratio is 110.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $170.12.

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.