Stonegate Investment Group LLC Sells 634 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC trimmed its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,733 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 634 shares during the quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.0%

Blackstone stock opened at $137.45 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $137.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $154.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $100.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.65. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month 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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 stock was 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 approximately $65,819,775.92. The trade was 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 owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group dropped their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.65.

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.