Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Cuts Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. cut its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 533,527 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 23,827 shares during the quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. owned 0.07% of Blackstone worth $91,991,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $239,837,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,990,238 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $515,577,000 after acquiring an additional 835,170 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $154.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,000,005. The trade was 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 insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $145.38 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $137.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.28. 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 $106.08 billion, a PE ratio of 40.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. 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 (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

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

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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