Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Wealth Alliance

Wealth Alliance lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 30.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,506 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,087 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 763.0% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $119.97.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total transaction of $3,694,498.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 982,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total transaction of $3,694,498.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, 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 insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.4 %

NYSE:BX opened at $120.28 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $126.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.66. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $79.92 and a one year high of $133.56. The company has a market capitalization of $85.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.02). Blackstone had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 17.30%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 205.46%.

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.