Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by Evercore Wealth Management LLC

Evercore Wealth Management LLC cut its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,399,444 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 72,487 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises about 3.6% of Evercore Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Evercore Wealth Management LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Blackstone worth $241,292,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 214.2% during the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,845,000 after purchasing an additional 15,205 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Blackstone by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,053,000 after acquiring an additional 4,688 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $139,302,000 after buying an additional 51,897 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BX shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $153.72.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $124.89 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.45. The company has a market cap of $91.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced 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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

About Blackstone

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.