Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 12.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,599 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 15,308 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in Blackstone were worth $15,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 105.4% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,874,000 after buying an additional 6,878 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,109,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 6.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,363,000 after buying an additional 1,943 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,747,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $0.61 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $152.17. 730,404 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,835,253. The company has a market cap of $111.03 billion, a PE ratio of 45.84, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.65. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $151.83.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $155.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the acquisition, the director owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.