Gabelli Funds LLC Reduces Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 155,268 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 12,561 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $23,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,100,868,000 after purchasing an additional 1,335,060 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $194,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,197 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 115.4% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $162,861,000 after purchasing an additional 583,384 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,107,665 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $701,795,000 after purchasing an additional 416,933 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in Blackstone by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,358,334,000 after acquiring an additional 412,281 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at $90,670.32. This trade represents a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 4,015,297 shares of company stock valued at $105,053,996 and have sold 9,128,660 shares valued at $46,457,920. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Zacks Research cut Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $138.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. HSBC reduced their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $173.00 price objective on Blackstone in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.05.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $117.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $117.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.38. The company has a market capitalization of $87.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.98, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.63. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two 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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The business had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.67%.

Blackstone Profile

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.