Private Wealth Partners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Private Wealth Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 19.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,274 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 15,047 shares during the quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 30.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,652,526,000 after buying an additional 14,396,655 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 13.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,825,769 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,588,433,000 after buying an additional 1,744,652 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 43.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,877,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $736,833,000 after buying an additional 2,098,150 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.5% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,106,889 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $654,292,000 after buying an additional 92,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.1% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,246,005 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $562,058,000 after purchasing an additional 106,251 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.0 %

BX stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $122.49. 2,962,718 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,161,162. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.79. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $79.92 and a one year high of $133.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.54 billion, a PE ratio of 43.28, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $125.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.49.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The business’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 132.86%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total value of $6,268,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,294,783.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 393,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.65.

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.