Community Trust & Investment Co. Sells 876 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Community Trust & Investment Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,464 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 876 shares during the quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $63,109,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $1,747,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 716,319 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $123,508,000 after buying an additional 5,951 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 3.1%

NYSE BX opened at $136.37 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $99.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.57, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.65. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $136.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $155.39. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BX. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone

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.