USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 2,754 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

USS Investment Management Ltd cut its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 177,472 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,754 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Blackstone were worth $30,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 18,769 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 1,536 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $265,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 26.2% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,141 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,956,000 after acquiring an additional 3,562 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,170 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smart Money Group LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 187.2% in the fourth quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 3,613 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 2,355 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.9%

BX opened at $145.38 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $106.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.05, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $137.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.28.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.56%. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 now directly owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten equities research 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, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $154.82.

Blackstone Company 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.

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