Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 14.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 115,381 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 18,735 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $16,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the purchase, the director owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.29.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.1%

BX stock traded down $1.85 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $162.21. 3,976,798 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,887,856. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $143.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.98. The company has a market cap of $118.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

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.