CWA Asset Management Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC trimmed its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,122 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 4,857 shares during the quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $11,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,365,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Blackstone by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,563 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 4,469 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $268,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 18,036 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 174,558 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $30,097,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BX. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $155.65.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock traded up $1.59 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $137.28. The company had a trading volume of 2,687,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,807,221. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $100.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.35, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.65. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $136.82 and a 200-day moving average of $154.76.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company 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 firm earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.