Strategic Blueprint LLC Sells 469 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Strategic Blueprint LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,906 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 469 shares during the quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $979,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $708,859,000. Capital World Investors increased 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 worth $4,766,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546,886 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $290,514,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,873,573 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $8,442,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290,324 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of BX stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $140.30. 385,319 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,483,479. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.59 and a 1 year high of $145.16. The company’s 50 day moving average is $131.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $100.26 billion, a PE ratio of 49.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.50.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America increased their price target on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.94.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 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.