Gabelli Funds LLC Decreases Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Gabelli Funds LLC trimmed its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 183,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 8,100 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $24,050,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 763.0% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 219 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the purchase, the director now owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,115,488.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BX traded up $2.63 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $121.71. The company had a trading volume of 2,611,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,607,256. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.10 and a 1-year high of $133.56. The firm has a market cap of $86.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.10.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 117.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Argus increased their target price on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.65.

Blackstone Company 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.