Sargent Investment Group LLC Trims Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sargent Investment Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,781 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 8,230 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up approximately 2.8% of Sargent Investment Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $12,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Blackstone by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 303,069 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,348,000 after acquiring an additional 15,875 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $3,734,000. Kampmann Melissa S. purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $2,314,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1,722.9% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 504,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $54,046,000 after buying an additional 476,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 536.5% during the fourth quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,181 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,726,000 after buying an additional 11,110 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on BX. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $128.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Citigroup downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.65.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $122.49. 2,962,718 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,161,162. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $87.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.28, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.92 and a 1 year high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The company 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 firm’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 EPS. Equities 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 132.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 approximately $4,349,313. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by 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.