Blackstone Inc. $BX Position Reduced by Gridiron Partners LLC

Gridiron Partners LLC lowered its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 97.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,454 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 180,291 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for approximately 0.4% of Gridiron Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Gridiron Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,100,868,000 after buying an additional 1,335,060 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,358,334,000 after acquiring an additional 412,281 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,251,474,000 after acquiring an additional 329,379 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $1,071,348,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Blackstone by 3.2% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,677,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $799,236,000 after purchasing an additional 145,056 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $110.40 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.94 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $130.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The business had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $1.49 dividend. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 153.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 1,146,789 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.16 per share, for a total transaction of $30,000,000.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,716,249 shares in the company, valued at $437,297,073.84. The trade was a 7.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This trade represents a 99.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Blackstone from $166.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Argus dropped their target price on Blackstone from $195.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.86.

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.