Blue Square Asset Management LLC Sells 1,262 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Blue Square Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,715 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,262 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up approximately 1.5% of Blue Square Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Blue Square Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,196,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 17.3% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 86,971 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,318,000 after buying an additional 12,852 shares in the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 26.8% during the third quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 9,811 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,051,000 after buying an additional 2,072 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 9,847.5% during the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 3,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 3,939 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.0% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 5,662 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 206,503 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $22,125,000 after buying an additional 3,505 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of BX stock traded up $2.35 on Thursday, reaching $126.61. 3,365,473 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,431,396. The company has a market cap of $90.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.74, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $122.59 and a 200-day moving average of $124.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $88.59 and a one year high of $133.56.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 117.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Argus increased their price objective on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $143.00 to $134.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Thirteen 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 through this link. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,115,488.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.