Apollon Wealth Management LLC Sells 49,538 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Apollon Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 37.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,398 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 49,538 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,065,374,000 after buying an additional 636,613 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after acquiring an additional 179,213 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $1,275,747,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Blackstone by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,251,474,000 after acquiring an additional 329,379 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.5%

BX opened at $114.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.59. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.78. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the sale, the insider owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at $113,169,363.51. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Weiss Ratings cut Blackstone from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.86.

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.