TCTC Holdings LLC Sells 17,631 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

TCTC Holdings LLC decreased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 42.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,766 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 17,631 shares during the quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $983,690,000 after acquiring an additional 3,178,133 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,100,868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,060 shares in the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in Blackstone by 16,035.1% during the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $194,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 115.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $162,861,000 after purchasing an additional 583,384 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of BX opened at $120.67 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $89.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.59. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $119.81 and a 200 day moving average of $131.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at $182,236,000. This trade represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 899,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Blackstone in a report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citizens Jmp cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.86.

About Blackstone

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.