Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Principle Wealth Partners LLC

Principle Wealth Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 552 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 30.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,652,526,000 after purchasing an additional 14,396,655 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 13.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,825,769 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,588,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744,652 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 43.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,877,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $736,833,000 after purchasing an additional 2,098,150 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.5% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,106,889 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $654,292,000 after purchasing an additional 92,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,246,005 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $562,058,000 after purchasing an additional 106,251 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

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 transaction, the insider now owns 393,143 shares in the company, valued at $50,294,783.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total value of $3,694,498.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $125,773,399.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total value of $6,268,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $122.49. The company had a trading volume of 2,962,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,161,162. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $125.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $118.49. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $79.92 and a one year high of $133.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.54 billion, a PE ratio of 43.28, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 132.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer lowered Blackstone from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 target price (down from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.65.

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.