Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Position Reduced by Motco

Key Points

• Motco has decreased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 17.5%, selling 7,985 shares and now holding 37,636 shares valued at approximately $5.26 million.
• Blackstone has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03 per share, with an ex-dividend date set for August 4th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 2.32%.
• Insider transactions indicate confidence in Blackstone, with a major shareholder purchasing over 1.18 million shares recently, raising their ownership by nearly 40%.

Motco reduced its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 17.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,636 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 7,985 shares during the quarter. Motco's holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,261,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BX. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 2,849,769 shares of company stock worth $54,932,307 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $176.61. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,391,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,284,526. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $128.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.49, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.65. The business's fifty day moving average is $150.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.62.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.12.

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.