MGO One Seven LLC Boosts Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• MGO One Seven LLC increased its Blackstone stake by 39% in the fourth quarter, adding 11,847 shares and bringing its total holdings to 42,244 shares valued at about $6.5 million.
• Blackstone reported solid quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.36 versus the $1.34 estimate and 10% revenue growth year over year, though revenue was slightly below expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.16 per share, payable May 11, implying an annualized yield of 3.8%; meanwhile, analysts remain split with a consensus rating of Hold and a target price near $150.95.

MGO One Seven LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 39.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,244 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 11,847 shares during the quarter. MGO One Seven LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 206,498 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $31,830,000 after purchasing an additional 12,800 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 3,302 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $509,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 12,518 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,930,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Ponta Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $584,000. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 231,289 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $35,651,000 after buying an additional 2,430 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX opened at $123.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.63. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a fifty day moving average of $116.32 and a 200 day moving average of $136.17.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th will be issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Blackstone from $141.00 to $140.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $150.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 25,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at $90,670.32. This represents a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,103,660 shares of company stock worth $45,982,920. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Company Profile

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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