Embree Financial Group Sells 2,250 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Embree Financial Group lessened its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,232 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,250 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises 1.6% of Embree Financial Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Embree Financial Group’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,044,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,652,526,000 after buying an additional 14,396,655 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $708,859,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 13,816.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $290,514,000. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its stake in Blackstone by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,738,986 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,417,140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,367,581 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.4 %

Blackstone stock traded up $2.96 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $124.24. The company had a trading volume of 1,975,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,431,545. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.59 and a 12 month high of $133.56. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $122.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $88.79 billion, a PE ratio of 43.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.50.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.94.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 219 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’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 owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is 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.