Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 22.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,643 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 2,150 shares during the period. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.5%

BX stock traded down $0.71 during trading on Thursday, reaching $140.68. 2,381,735 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,794,146. 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 twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The firm's 50 day moving average is $136.18 and its 200 day moving average is $156.23. The firm has a market cap of $102.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.65.

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 business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued 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 2.64%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.