Edgewood Management LLC Sells 651,413 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Edgewood Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,634,877 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 651,413 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up approximately 4.1% of Edgewood Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Edgewood Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,291,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. 1248 Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $28,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX opened at $146.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business has a fifty day moving average of $155.09 and a 200 day moving average of $157.92. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $194.00. The stock has a market cap of $108.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.85, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 147.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total transaction of $3,686,390.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 2,538,071 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.61 per share, for a total transaction of $64,999,998.31. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 7,506,209 shares in the company, valued at $192,234,012.49. This represents a 51.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased 2,950,751 shares of company stock valued at $79,050,138 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Blackstone from $173.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $199.00 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.00.

Blackstone Profile

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.