Sigma Planning Corp Sells 13,385 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sigma Planning Corp cut its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 64.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,225 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 13,385 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,776 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 534 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 39,671 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,194,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $124.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $88.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.51. 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 12 month low of $79.92 and a 12 month high of $133.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $126.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $118.20.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 132.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.94.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $127.08 per share, with a total value of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at $4,349,313. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, 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 stock was 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 owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 232 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $127.08 per share, with a total value of $29,482.56. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 34,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The disclosure for this purchase 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. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone 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.