Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc decreased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 21.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,664 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,517 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc's holdings in Blackstone were worth $792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Blackstone by 105.4% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 6,878 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $63,109,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $1,747,000. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 34.3% during the first quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 64,614 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,032,000 after acquiring an additional 16,486 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $168.71.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.1%

Blackstone stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $177.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,595,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,164,950. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.85 billion, a PE ratio of 47.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.65. 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 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock's fifty day moving average is $149.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.52.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.05%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 2,849,769 shares of company stock valued at $54,932,307. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.