Moran Wealth Management LLC Cuts Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Moran Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 186,679 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,874 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for 0.9% of Moran Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $26,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,637 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $800,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 7,056 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Equity Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $289,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.4%

BX stock opened at $138.30 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $137.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.29. 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 capitalization of $100.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

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). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup decreased their price target on 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, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.65.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the purchase, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is 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.