Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Major Shareholder Holdings L.P. Blackstone Sells 124,600 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Blackstone major shareholder Holdings L.P. sold 124,600 shares at an average price of $16.40, for total proceeds of approximately $2.04 million; the transaction was disclosed in an SEC filing.
• Blackstone shares fell to $114.52, while the company reported quarterly earnings of $1.52 per share and revenue of $5.04 billion, exceeding analyst expectations.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $1.29, equivalent to an annualized $5.16 payout and a 4.5% yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $148.71.

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) major shareholder Holdings L.P. Blackstone sold 124,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total value of $2,043,440.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company's stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $3.90 on Monday, hitting $114.52. 8,076,585 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,119,742. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.96 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $177.23.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 115.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $6,112,162,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after purchasing an additional 179,213 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,364,373,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,275,747,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $983,690,000 after acquiring an additional 3,178,133 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BX. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, HSBC restated a "hold" rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $148.71.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment management and advisory services to institutions, corporations, and individual investors. The company invests across multiple asset classes, including private equity, real estate, credit, infrastructure, insurance solutions, and hedge fund solutions.

Its investment activities include acquiring and managing businesses, commercial and residential properties, infrastructure assets, and credit investments.

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