Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Aviance Capital Partners LLC

Aviance Capital Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,664 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,171,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,652,526,000 after acquiring an additional 14,396,655 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 13.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,825,769 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,588,433,000 after buying an additional 1,744,652 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,877,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $736,833,000 after buying an additional 2,098,150 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,246,005 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $562,058,000 after acquiring an additional 106,251 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 13,816.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,623,868 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,744,370,000 after purchasing an additional 3,597,828 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX traded up $3.22 on Monday, reaching $121.21. The stock had a trading volume of 3,399,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,688,110. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $86.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $125.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.25. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.05 and a 12-month high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 117.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.