Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Kaizen Financial Strategies

Kaizen Financial Strategies lowered its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,692 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 842 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for approximately 2.9% of Kaizen Financial Strategies’ portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Kaizen Financial Strategies’ holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 56.1% in the first quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $540,000 after buying an additional 1,530 shares during the last quarter. United Bank raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 34.2% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 8,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after buying an additional 2,153 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 10.4% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.6% in the first quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 18,446 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,341,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 12.8% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 38,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,878,000 after buying an additional 4,366 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total value of $3,694,498.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total transaction of $3,694,498.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $125,773,399.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.4 %

BX stock traded up $3.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $130.89. 2,133,580 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,820,963. The company has a market capitalization of $93.54 billion, a PE ratio of 71.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.29 and a twelve month high of $133.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.89.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.16. Blackstone had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 17.30%. The business had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 5th were given a $0.94 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 2nd. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 205.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Citigroup cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $124.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.53.

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.