Northcape Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Northcape Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,155 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 269 shares during the quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,639,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $4.02 on Tuesday, hitting $116.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,328,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,677,235. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $83.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $125.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.68. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.92 and a 52-week high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted 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. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 22nd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.65.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total value of $3,694,498.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares in the company, valued at $125,773,399.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476. Company 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.