Blackstone Inc. $BX Stock Holdings Lessened by Candriam S.C.A.

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. reduced its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 5.0%, resulting in ownership of 44,380 shares valued at approximately $6.2 million.
• Blackstone reported quarterly earnings of $1.21 per share, exceeding expectations, with a revenue of $3.07 billion, reflecting a 32.7% increase year-over-year.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.03, up from $0.93, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.5%.

Candriam S.C.A. cut its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 5.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,380 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,331 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $163.1640 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $161.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.77. The company has a market cap of $120.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.86, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $170.12.

Blackstone 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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