Montag A & Associates Inc. Has $900,000 Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Montag A & Associates cut its Blackstone stake by 70.2% in Q4, selling 13,734 shares and now holding 5,839 shares worth about $900,000.
• Insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares (≈$3.78M) on May 1, while major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 2,868,069 shares for ≈$75M; insiders net sold about 9.1M shares (~$46M) over the past three months.
• Blackstone beat Q1 estimates with EPS of $1.36 and revenue up 10%, declared a quarterly dividend of $1.16 (annualized $4.64) with a payout ratio of 152%, and carries a consensus analyst rating of Hold with a $150.95 target.

Montag A & Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 70.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,839 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 13,734 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 2,868,069 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $75,000,004.35. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 18,628,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $487,129,914.25. The trade was a 18.20% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 9,103,660 shares of company stock valued at $45,982,920 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $150.95.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX opened at $126.56 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $115.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business had revenue of $3.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. Blackstone's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 152.43%.

Key Blackstone News

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sources say Apollo, Blackstone and KKR are competing to buy Shell’s stake in the massive LNG Canada project — a potential strategic investment for Blackstone that could add scale to its energy/private assets and revenue potential if a deal is reached. Exclusive: Apollo, Blackstone and KKR vie for Shell stake in LNG Canada, sources say
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend coverage highlights an upcoming payout (Simply Wall St/Yahoo piece), which can support investor sentiment for BX by signaling cash return and income potential for shareholders. Blackstone Inc. NYSE: BX Pays A US$1.16 Dividend In Just Two Days
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst-focused coverage of Blackstone’s Q1 earnings call (MSN roundup of top analyst questions) may affect near-term guidance detail and investor expectations but is more informational unless new guidance or revisions emerge. Blackstone’s Q1 earnings call: Our top 5 analyst questions
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 BX shares on May 1 at about $125.79 (≈$3.78M), reducing his stake by ~3.23% — a large, disclosed sale that can be perceived negatively by investors searching for insider conviction. SEC filing: Insider sale SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research moved BX to a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), a notable downgrade that can pressure sentiment and trigger short-term selling by momentum/quant strategies. Coverage referenced by Zacks/TickerReport and media roundups. Zacks.com Tickerreport: Zacks downgrade

Blackstone 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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