Blackstone Inc. $BX Stock Holdings Cut by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Sterling Capital Management cut its Blackstone stake by 40.9% in the first quarter, selling 12,710 shares and ending with 18,341 shares worth about $2.1 million.
• Blackstone reported strong quarterly earnings of $1.36 per share, topping estimates, while revenue rose 10% year over year to $3.43 billion.
• The company continues to draw mixed Wall Street views: analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus with a $150.86 price target, even as Blackstone’s dividend yield sits at 4.0% and its payout ratio is elevated at 118.67%.

Sterling Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 40.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,341 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 12,710 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Blackstone by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 636,613 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,861,885,000 after buying an additional 179,213 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $1,275,747,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 329,379 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $115.66 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $120.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.07. The company has a market cap of $85.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Argus reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $150.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 41,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 765,111 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $20,000,001.54. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 7,882,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at $206,039,270.30. This represents a 10.75% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.