Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc Sells 7,477,504 Shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This represents a 99.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $110.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $81.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $130.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $148.49. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $1.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 153.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,065,374,000 after acquiring an additional 636,613 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Blackstone by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after purchasing an additional 179,213 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $1,275,747,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Blackstone by 4.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,251,474,000 after buying an additional 329,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $179.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $126.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.86.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.