BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Reduces Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. lessened its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 75.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,166 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 61,700 shares during the period. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bangor Savings Bank grew its position in Blackstone by 187.5% during the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BX. Citizens Jmp upgraded Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $154.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 1,660,538 shares of company stock worth $24,981,930 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE BX traded down $2.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $134.02. The company had a trading volume of 2,862,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,764,536. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $137.96 and a 200 day moving average of $162.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.