Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Zhang Financial LLC

Zhang Financial LLC cut its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 19.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,168 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,783 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 763.0% during the fourth 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. Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 price target (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Blackstone from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $118.92.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $118.40 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $126.47 and a 200-day moving average of $117.74. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $79.92 and a one year high of $133.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $84.61 billion, a PE ratio of 41.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The business’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 132.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

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

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.