Gabelli Funds LLC Reduces Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its Blackstone stake by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 12,561 shares and leaving it with 155,268 shares valued at about $23.9 million.
• Blackstone’s insider activity was mixed: one major shareholder bought 2.87 million shares for about $75 million, while another sold 7.48 million shares in a separate transaction.
• Blackstone beat quarterly earnings expectations, posting $1.36 EPS versus the $1.34 estimate, while revenue rose 10% year over year to $3.43 billion; analysts currently rate the stock a consensus “Hold.”

Gabelli Funds LLC trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 155,268 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 12,561 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $23,933,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted 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 worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 9.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its stake in Blackstone by 14.7% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,024,000 after buying an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $67,703,000 after buying an additional 8,655 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 2,868,069 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $75,000,004.35. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 18,628,295 shares in the company, valued at $487,129,914.25. This trade represents a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total value of $26,246,039.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This trade represents a 99.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 4,015,297 shares of company stock worth $105,053,996 and have sold 9,128,660 shares worth $46,457,920. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, HSBC decreased their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $151.05.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $117.22 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $87.08 billion, a PE ratio of 29.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.63. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The business's fifty day moving average price is $117.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.38.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 118.67%.

About Blackstone

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.

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