Assetmark Inc. Sells 13,625 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Assetmark Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 20.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 52,853 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 13,625 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,078,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1,034.3% in the 4th quarter. Greenup Street Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,940 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,149,000 after buying an additional 12,711 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 100,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,561,000 after acquiring an additional 8,321 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 249,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,543,000 after acquiring an additional 19,603 shares in the last quarter. Benson Investment Management Company Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $5,856,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after buying an additional 840,258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of BX opened at $124.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $92.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $119.99 and a 200 day moving average of $125.27. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. The trade was a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the acquisition, the director owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. This trade represents a 0.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Blackstone from $156.00 to $139.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on Blackstone from $124.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.71.

Blackstone 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.