Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Sells 372 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,803 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 372 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 86.2% in 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 during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 763.0% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Blackstone news, Director Reginald J. Brown acquired 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $125.62 per share, with a total value of $301,488.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,129,133.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX traded up $0.32 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $121.53. 3,233,853 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,682,961. The company has a market cap of $86.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $124.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.45. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $80.05 and a 52-week 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 firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 117.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Argus upped their price objective on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.