Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC

Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,119 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 520 shares during the quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 763.0% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Family CFO Inc purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of BX traded up $3.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $123.08. 3,668,528 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,671,015. The firm has a market cap of $87.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $119.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.28 and a 12-month high of $133.56.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 117.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. UBS Group raised their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. TheStreet lowered shares of Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 232 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $127.08 per share, with a total value 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 2,851 shares of company stock worth $357,137. 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.