Handelsbanken Fonder AB Reduces Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 256,853 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 9,561 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Blackstone were worth $35,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the fourth 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. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 34,022 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,866,000 after buying an additional 4,874 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $786,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Principle Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 18,157 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,131,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.4%

NYSE:BX traded down $0.61 on Thursday, hitting $140.78. The stock had a trading volume of 829,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,787,991. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $102.72 billion, a PE ratio of 38.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business's fifty day moving average is $135.85 and its 200 day moving average is $156.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $155.65.

About Blackstone

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.