Stephens Inc. AR Decreases Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Stephens Inc. AR reduced its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 296,169 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 7,267 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $45,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Family CFO Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BX. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $173.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $475,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 125,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,375,000. This trade represents a 16.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 4,015,297 shares of company stock valued at $105,053,996 and sold 9,128,660 shares valued at $46,457,920. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $117.96 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $117.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $134.76. 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 market capitalization of $87.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.63. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.67%.

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.