John & Kathleen Schreiber Foundation Sells 49,355 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• The John & Kathleen Schreiber Foundation reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 5.5% to 849,082 shares, which constitutes 87.9% of its investment portfolio, valued at approximately $118.69 million.
• Insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone at an average price of $138.47, decreasing his ownership by 5%, while major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone increased their stakes significantly.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Blackstone's stock, with target prices ranging from $150 to $195, and an average rating of "Hold" with a price target of $170.12.

John & Kathleen Schreiber Foundation lessened its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 849,082 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 49,355 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises about 87.9% of John & Kathleen Schreiber Foundation's holdings, making the stock its largest holding. John & Kathleen Schreiber Foundation owned approximately 0.12% of Blackstone worth $118,685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position 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 worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $279,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 476,213 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $82,109,000 after purchasing an additional 13,555 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 354,219 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $61,065,000 after buying an additional 7,716 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,483 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Saturday, July 19th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $170.12.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX traded down $1.68 on Thursday, reaching $167.67. 3,082,252 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,034,718. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $154.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.59. The company has a market cap of $122.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.71.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 110.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total value of $16,736,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 808,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at $135,353,571.52. This trade represents a 11.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone purchased 1,189,532 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.22 per share, with a total value of $29,999,997.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,178,771 shares in the company, valued at $105,388,604.62. This represents a 39.79% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company 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.