Cerity Partners LLC Cuts Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Cerity Partners LLC cut its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 380,807 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,335 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC owned 0.05% of Blackstone worth $53,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arcus Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,879 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,878 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Research LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 29.3% in the 1st quarter. Main Street Research LLC now owns 1,682 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 40,543 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,667,000 after buying an additional 9,071 shares during the period. Finally, OMC Financial Services LTD lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 36.9% during the 1st quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 9,052 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,265,000 after buying an additional 2,442 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Blackstone from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten research 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $161.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $162.21 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $143.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $150.98. The stock has a market cap of $118.36 billion, a PE ratio of 48.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96.

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 business 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 prior year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.29%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 112.05%.

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.

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