Stephens Inc. AR Sells 50,851 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Stephens Inc. AR lessened its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 14.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 291,811 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 50,851 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Blackstone were worth $40,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group lowered 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $162.18.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.9%

Blackstone stock traded up $1.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $163.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,521,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,884,378. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $143.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.62. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $119.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.65. 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 announced 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). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the purchase, the director owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.