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

Castleark Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 417,020 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 23,600 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises 2.5% of Castleark Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $71,903,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 18,769 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 11,629 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,005,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Blackstone by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 4,806 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $829,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $144.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $105.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $137.50 and a 200-day moving average of $161.16. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week 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.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 112.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BX shares. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.82.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.