Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Brown Advisory Inc.

Brown Advisory Inc. trimmed its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 21.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,256,274 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 350,752 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Blackstone worth $175,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BX. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter worth about $36,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays increased their price target on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $156.65.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $153.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $141.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $151.04. 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 firm has a market cap of $111.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.10, a PEG ratio of 1.43 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (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 period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought 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 directly owned 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.