Pinebridge Investments L.P. Reduces Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. lessened its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,476 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 29,613 shares during the quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $25,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,341,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,637,266,000 after buying an additional 444,887 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,987,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,032,400,000 after acquiring an additional 371,677 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $974,448,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,045,143 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $697,464,000 after purchasing an additional 113,732 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $127.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $142.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.19. The stock has a market cap of $92.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BX. Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays increased their target price on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $153.72.

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.