Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by First United Bank & Trust

First United Bank & Trust reduced its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 337 shares during the period. First United Bank & Trust’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.0%

Blackstone stock opened at $141.53 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.27 billion, a PE ratio of 38.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. 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 report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” 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 target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This represents 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 corporate 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.