Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 665,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 32,696 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.09% of Blackstone worth $82,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290,324 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546,886 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,670,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $613,581,000 after buying an additional 21,450 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,514,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 19,048.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,883,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $247,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873,573 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BX. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Blackstone in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.78.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $155.07 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $137.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.59 and a 12 month high of $156.46.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.90%.

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.