Voya Investment Management LLC Lowers Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Voya Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173,498 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 9,472 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $29,915,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bangor Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 187.5% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 161 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $132.80 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $163.98. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $96.87 billion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citizens Jmp upgraded 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.