Captrust Financial Advisors Sells 4,289 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Captrust Financial Advisors decreased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 117,157 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,289 shares during the quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors’ holdings in Blackstone were worth $20,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Blackstone Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of BX opened at $134.02 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $137.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.87. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced 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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 112.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 1,660,538 shares of company stock valued at $24,981,930. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.