Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. trimmed its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 89.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 51,981 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at $200,000. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 201,180 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $26,429,000 after purchasing an additional 7,480 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 148.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 84,068 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,044,000 after purchasing an additional 50,244 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 276.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 318,885 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $41,892,000 after purchasing an additional 234,127 shares during the period. Finally, PGGM Investments acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth $750,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 219 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,115,488.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the purchase, the director now owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BX. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.56.

Blackstone Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $3.98 on Friday, reaching $133.05. 4,695,832 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,029,145. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $145.16. The company has a 50 day moving average of $127.15 and a 200 day moving average of $125.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.08 billion, a PE ratio of 47.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.50.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.90%.

Blackstone 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.