Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX – Get Rating) by 96.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,325 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 248,503 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $618,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whalerock Point Partners LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $282,571,000. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 133.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 62.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Insider Transactions at Blackstone
In related news, major shareholder Holdings L.P. Blackstone III sold 99,889,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total value of $1,198,673,568.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Holdings L.P. Blackstone III sold 99,889,464 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.00, for a total value of $1,198,673,568.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings I/Ii Gp L. Blackstone sold 28,562,652 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.71, for a total value of $248,780,698.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 57,028 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,713.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 140,532,616 shares of company stock valued at $1,726,902,967. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Blackstone Stock Down 3.3 %
Blackstone (NYSE:BX – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The asset manager reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.12. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.43% and a net margin of 20.52%. The company had revenue of $1.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.71 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.
Blackstone Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 3rd. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.33%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 153.59%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
BX has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 30th. CICC Research started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Blackstone from $85.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Credit Suisse Group cut their price objective on Blackstone from $69.50 to $69.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Blackstone from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $104.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.33.
About Blackstone
Blackstone, Inc engages in the provision of investment and fund management services. It operates through the following segments: Real Estate, Private Equity, Credit and Insurance, and Hedge Fund Solutions. The Real Estate segment includes management of opportunistic real estate funds, Core+ real estate funds, high-yield real estate debt funds, and liquid real estate debt funds.
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