DRW Securities LLC Sells 5,287 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• DRW Securities LLC reduced its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 67.0% during the first quarter, retaining only 2,609 shares valued at approximately $365,000.
• Blackstone reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.21, surpassing estimates and achieving a 32.7% year-over-year revenue increase to $3.07 billion.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.03 per share, reflecting a dividend yield of 2.4%, with a payout ratio of 110.75%.

DRW Securities LLC reduced its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 67.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,609 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 5,287 shares during the quarter. DRW Securities LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 287.0% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 71,007 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $12,243,000 after acquiring an additional 52,659 shares in the last quarter. AlTi Global Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $205,000. AXA S.A. grew its position in Blackstone by 55.3% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 52,339 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,024,000 after purchasing an additional 18,632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,460,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, CAO David Payne sold 9,400 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.97, for a total transaction of $1,597,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 54,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,261,325.36. This trade represents a 14.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 222 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $170.29 per share, for a total transaction of $37,804.38. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 38,753 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,599,248.37. The trade was a 0.58% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 1,189,806 shares of company stock valued at $30,046,627 and sold 16,850,134 shares valued at $131,641,986. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded up $2.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $169.85. The company had a trading volume of 2,547,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,316,451. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm has a market cap of $125.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.66, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.77. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $167.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.97.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Saturday, July 19th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.38.

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.