Consolidated Investment Group LLC Sells 2,940 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Consolidated Investment Group LLC trimmed its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 83,289 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,940 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises approximately 1.8% of Consolidated Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Consolidated Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $11,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $239,837,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 14,608.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,322,598 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $184,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Citigroup cut their price target on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $137.45 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $137.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $100.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.40, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 112.05%.

About Blackstone

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.