Wealthspire Advisors LLC Trims Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Wealthspire Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,656 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,466 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,097,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 125,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,473,000 after acquiring an additional 3,159 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 182,545 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $18,842,000 after buying an additional 47,097 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 112.3% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 188,281 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $20,172,000 after buying an additional 99,574 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY purchased a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter worth $614,000. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 12,410 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.4 %

Blackstone stock traded down $1.71 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $119.79. The company had a trading volume of 2,918,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,674,363. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.33, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $124.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.45. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.05 and a 12-month high of $133.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.79.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 117.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 2,851 shares of company stock valued at $357,137 and have sold 2,587,168 shares valued at $37,816,476. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on BX. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Argus increased 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. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.65.

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.