Corient Private Wealth LLC Sells 8,704 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Corient Private Wealth LLC trimmed its Blackstone position by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, selling 8,704 shares and leaving it with 420,189 shares valued at about $64.8 million.
• Blackstone reported quarterly EPS of $1.36, beating analyst expectations, while revenue rose 10% year over year to $3.43 billion. Analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $150.86.
• The company recently paid a quarterly dividend of $1.16 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 3.7%, though the payout ratio is elevated at 118.67%.

Corient Private Wealth LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 420,189 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 8,704 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Blackstone worth $64,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,065,374,000 after buying an additional 636,613 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Blackstone by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,861,885,000 after acquiring an additional 179,213 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $1,275,747,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,251,474,000 after buying an additional 329,379 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $123.78 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $121.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.95 billion, a PE ratio of 31.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Blackstone from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $150.86.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 19,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $73,233.72. This trade represents a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. This trade represents a 0.86% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have acquired 9,487,234 shares of company stock valued at $189,789,892 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone's business is organized around several principal investment platforms.

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