Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC Sells 90 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,040 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up approximately 1.1% of Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,934,000. Vantage Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 92,213 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,890,000 after purchasing an additional 5,241 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth approximately $794,000. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 3,495 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone 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 sale, the insider now owns 475,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Barclays increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.65.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.0%

NYSE BX opened at $137.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization 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 one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $137.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.86.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 112.05%.

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.