SVB Wealth LLC Reduces Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

SVB Wealth LLC decreased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 88.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,173 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 145,804 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,510,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 56.1% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,255 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,530 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its stake in Blackstone by 34.2% in the first quarter. United Bank now owns 8,441 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,072,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 10.4% in the first quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,392,000 after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.6% in the first quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 18,446 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,341,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 12.8% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 38,429 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,878,000 after acquiring an additional 4,366 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $2.91 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $120.28. 5,701,696 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,722,024. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.92 and a 52 week high of $133.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.96 billion, a PE ratio of 67.32, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51. The company's 50 day moving average price is $126.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.64.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 17.34%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 205.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BX. TD Cowen began coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $118.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $119.97.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 232 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $127.08 per share, with a total value of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,225 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total value of $3,694,498.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 982,221 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.