Ieq Capital LLC Sells 14,435 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Ieq Capital LLC lowered its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 233,692 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 14,435 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $36,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 9.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $310,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its holdings in Blackstone by 14.7% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,703,000 after purchasing an additional 8,655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,670.32. This represents a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 355 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. This trade represents a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Blackstone from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Argus decreased their target price on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.86.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE:BX opened at $122.63 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $91.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.36, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $119.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.03.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

About Blackstone

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.