Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stock Position Raised by Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC

Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,178 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 25.1% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,822 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 520.4% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 7,240 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 6,073 shares during the last quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $209,000. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in Blackstone by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,671 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $136.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $99.40 billion, a PE ratio of 37.53, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $136.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.04. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 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 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. 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 company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone 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.