Raymond James Financial Inc. Sells 31,719 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. has reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 1.7%, selling 31,719 shares to hold 1,802,507 shares valued at approximately $251.95 million.
• Blackstone recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, up from $0.93, reflecting a 2.4% yield with a payout ratio of 110.75%.
• Blackstone's stock is trading at around $171.61, with analysts giving it an average rating of "Hold" and a price target of $170.12.

Raymond James Financial Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,802,507 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 31,719 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.25% of Blackstone worth $251,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,997,581 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,504,702,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102,949 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,016,046 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,209,707,000 after acquiring an additional 681,512 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 16.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,292,320 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $739,761,000 after acquiring an additional 742,829 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,195,551 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $895,817,000 after acquiring an additional 144,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,162,867 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $581,886,000 after acquiring an additional 117,724 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $171.61 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $159.05 and its 200-day moving average is $149.87. The stock has a market cap of $126.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.71. 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 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 808,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $135,353,571.52. The trade was a 11.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total transaction of $8,829,594.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 737,248 shares in the company, valued at $128,015,742.72. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and sold 16,850,134 shares worth $131,641,986. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued 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 company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.12.

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.

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