Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Whittier Trust Co.

by · The Cerbat Gem

Whittier Trust Co. lessened its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX – Free Report) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 320,213 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,633 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $44,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, 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 owned 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 37,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.18.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Blackstone

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $163.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $144.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.55. The stock has a market cap of $119.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.25, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.65. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX – Get Free Report) last posted 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 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. 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 company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.93 dividend. 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 2.28%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Blackstone Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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