WealthPlan Investment Management LLC Sells 9,136 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• WealthPlan Investment Management LLC cut its Blackstone stake by 26.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 9,136 shares and leaving it with 25,141 shares worth about $3.88 million.
• Blackstone’s latest earnings topped expectations, with EPS of $1.36 versus the $1.34 consensus, while revenue rose 10% year over year to $3.43 billion.
• The stock has seen mixed sentiment: analysts currently rate Blackstone “Hold” on average, and the company also paid a $1.16 quarterly dividend, implying a 3.9% annual yield.

WealthPlan Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 26.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,141 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 9,136 shares during the period. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $12,100,868,000 after buying an additional 1,335,060 shares in the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd increased its position in Blackstone by 16,035.1% during the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $194,746,000 after buying an additional 1,133,197 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Blackstone by 115.4% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $162,861,000 after buying an additional 583,384 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Blackstone by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,107,665 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $701,795,000 after buying an additional 416,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Blackstone by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,358,334,000 after buying an additional 412,281 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $173.00 price objective on Blackstone in a report on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $140.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Argus cut their price objective on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $151.36.

Blackstone Stock Down 3.7%

Shares of BX opened at $117.96 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $87.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.63. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $117.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. This trade represents a 0.86% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the transaction, the insider owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at $113,169,363.51. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 4,015,297 shares of company stock valued at $105,053,996 and have sold 9,128,660 shares valued at $46,457,920. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone's business is organized around several principal investment platforms.

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