MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 420 shares during the quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $144.10 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $137.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.16. 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 stock has a market cap of $105.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted 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 business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 112.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America lowered their price target on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.82.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,000,005. The trade was a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 475,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.