Graham Capital Management L.P. Reduces Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Graham Capital Management L.P. decreased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 55.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,497 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 30,763 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Family CFO Inc purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at $182,236,000. This trade represents a -2,529.85% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider owned 899,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have purchased a total of 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $127.89 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $120.51 and a 200 day moving average of $130.70. The company has a market capitalization of $95.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.59. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on BX. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Argus lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.