Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC decreased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 174,650 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 750 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $21,622,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.0 %

Blackstone stock opened at $158.12 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $139.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.59 and a 52 week high of $161.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BX. Barclays raised their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.78.

About Blackstone

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.