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

PBMares Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 29.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,657 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,308 shares during the period. PBMares Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $63,109,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $1,747,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 716,319 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $123,508,000 after purchasing an additional 5,951 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 now owns 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 4.1%

BX stock traded up $5.70 on Tuesday, reaching $144.02. 3,950,542 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,344,405. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $105.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 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 analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten research 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $155.65.

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.