Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC reduced its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 22.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,280 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,230 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,972,648 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,244,379,000 after acquiring an additional 880,745 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in Blackstone by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,738,986 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,417,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367,581 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 13.3% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 1,744,652 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Blackstone by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,877,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $736,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,098,150 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,429,749 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $841,783,000 after acquiring an additional 322,860 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Down 3.3 %

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $4.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $116.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,328,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,677,235. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.20, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $118.77. 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 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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 117.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BX shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus increased their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at $4,349,313. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 232 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at $4,349,313. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.