Evercore Wealth Management LLC Reduces Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Evercore Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,399,444 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 72,487 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for 3.6% of Evercore Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Evercore Wealth Management LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Blackstone worth $241,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tenere Capital LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. Tenere Capital LLC now owns 112,300 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $19,363,000 after acquiring an additional 22,180 shares during the period. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 60.8% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 426 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. GMT Capital Corp bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $1,086,000. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 26,381 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,549,000 after buying an additional 2,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alta Advisers Ltd raised its stake in Blackstone by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 2,406 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of BX traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $132.92. 2,040,509 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,757,853. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $96.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.66, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released 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). Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their price objective on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $154.82.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone 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.