Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Has $396,000 Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC reduced its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 75.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,297 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 7,130 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock traded down $0.88 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $138.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,209,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,790,110. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one 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. The firm's 50 day moving average is $136.56 and its 200 day moving average is $159.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67.

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 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 business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $155.65.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.