Roble Belko & Company Inc Reduces Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Roble Belko & Company Inc reduced its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 93.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 329 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,900 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $38,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Family CFO Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.5%

Blackstone stock opened at $123.18 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $121.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.08.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.Blackstone’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. This trade represents a 0.86% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,233.72. This represents a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 9,487,234 shares of company stock worth $189,789,892. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.