Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. Reduces Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. reduced its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 177,211 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,249 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises 1.9% of Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $24,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $762,000. Thoma Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $800,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 23,986 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,136,000 after buying an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tableaux LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $304,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $138.45. 6,190,012 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,794,766. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $135.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $159.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $101.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.14, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of Blackstone 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on BX. Citizens Jmp upgraded Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America lowered their target price on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $155.65.

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.