Blackstone Inc. $BX Holdings Lowered by State of Wisconsin Investment Board

State of Wisconsin Investment Board trimmed its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 381,906 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 46,282 shares during the period. State of Wisconsin Investment Board’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $58,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $127.89 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $95.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.59. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $120.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.70.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.86.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. This trade represents a 0.86% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone bought 9,486,795 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.