Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Bought by Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC

Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,697 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,875 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,065,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 4,469 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $268,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 18,036 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,110,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 174,558 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,097,000 after purchasing an additional 2,189 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $135.65 on Wednesday. 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 0.67, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $154.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.97 billion, a PE ratio of 40.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 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 the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the sale, 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 owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BX shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.65.

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.