MML Investors Services LLC Has $14.27 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

MML Investors Services LLC reduced its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 162,484 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 8,067 shares during the quarter. MML Investors Services LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $14,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at approximately $17,568,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. AXS Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $47,000. 63.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Blackstone from $104.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. TheStreet upgraded Blackstone from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Blackstone from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.97.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE BX traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $108.18. The company had a trading volume of 728,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,389,141. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.72 and a 1-year high of $109.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $101.08 and its 200-day moving average is $91.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The asset manager reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.43 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 16.99%. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 347.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.49 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 191.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Altus Holdings Lp Gso acquired 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $5.47 per share, for a total transaction of $246,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,116,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,505,203.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Altus Holdings Lp Gso bought 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $5.47 per share, with a total value of $246,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 21,116,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,505,203.75. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Multi-Asset Direct Blackstone sold 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.50, for a total transaction of $25,500,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,398,212 shares of company stock worth $224,028,062 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.