Howard Capital Management Group LLC Sells 5,085 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Howard Capital Management Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 290,134 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 5,085 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for 3.2% of Howard Capital Management Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Howard Capital Management Group LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $40,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 8,110 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,469,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,460,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. The trade was a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BX. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note 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 report on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $155.65.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of BX stock traded up $1.65 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $138.06. 2,573,115 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,390,826. The business has a 50 day moving average of $136.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $155.39. The company has a market capitalization of $100.73 billion, a PE ratio of 38.03, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

Blackstone 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.