Geode Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management reduced its Blackstone stake by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 1,637,699 shares and ending with 17.3 million shares valued at about $2.66 billion.
• Blackstone’s latest earnings beat estimates, posting $1.36 EPS versus $1.34 expected, while revenue rose 10% year over year to $3.43 billion.
• Analysts remain mixed on BX: the stock has a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $151.05, though several firms recently trimmed their targets.

Geode Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,315,182 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,637,699 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.34% of Blackstone worth $2,659,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at $30,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This represents a 99.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896 and have sold 9,128,660 shares valued at $46,457,920. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on BX. TD Cowen cut 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. Barclays cut their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Citizens Jmp cut their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted 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. Finally, Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $151.05.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $118.01 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The business's 50-day moving average price is $118.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $133.01. The firm has a market cap of $87.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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