Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Decreases Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lessened its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 85,329 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 5,500 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $11,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BX. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,790,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,970,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,723 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $469,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,767 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX traded up $2.66 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $140.42. The company had a trading volume of 3,676,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,790,945. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The business's 50 day moving average price is $135.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.96. The firm has a market cap of $102.46 billion, a PE ratio of 38.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the purchase, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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. UBS Group decreased 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 cut 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $155.65.

About Blackstone

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.