Harbor Investment Advisory LLC Sells 4,367 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Harbor Investment Advisory LLC reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 11.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,647 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,367 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,790,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,970,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,687 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 11,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,903,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $138.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $135.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $158.84. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.65.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.