Shikiar Asset Management Inc. Sells 5,972 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Shikiar Asset Management Inc. cut its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 69.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,578 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,972 shares during the period. Shikiar Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of 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 period. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after buying an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,703,000 after acquiring an additional 8,655 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BX. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Blackstone from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.36.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone purchased 765,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,039,270.30. This represents a 10.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $117.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $87.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.03, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $120.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.50. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09.

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. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.67%.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.