Gradient Investments LLC Has $17.12 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Gradient Investments LLC decreased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 8.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,295 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 11,399 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $17,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 763.0% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $125.00 price objective (down from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.65.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $117.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,437,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,497,968. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $79.92 and a 1-year high of $133.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.52. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.85.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 117.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 393,143 shares of the company's stock, valued at $50,294,783.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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