Herold Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Herold Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,324 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 374 shares during the period. Herold Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC now owns 13,602 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. Trust Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,087,000. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $222,000. Cross Staff Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 42,042 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,504,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BIP Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total value of $6,268,570.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,294,783.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $122.44 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $125.96 and a 200-day moving average of $118.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.27, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.92 and a 12 month high of $133.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The business’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 132.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $125.00 price objective (down from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. TheStreet cut shares of Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.65.

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.