Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Major Shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc Sells 7,477,500 Shares

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of BX traded down $1.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $123.78. The company had a trading volume of 10,075,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,963,910. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The stock has a market cap of $91.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $120.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.56.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% in the 4th 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. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $164,597,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,709,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $417,620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249,269 shares during the period. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Blackstone by 16,035.1% during the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $194,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings cut Blackstone from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus 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.