Evercore Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Evercore Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,345,665 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,573 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up approximately 2.4% of Evercore Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Evercore Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $154,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of 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. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. United Bank grew its position in Blackstone by 14.7% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after buying an additional 1,729 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,703,000 after acquiring an additional 8,655 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on BX shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.76.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,233.72. This trade represents a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This trade represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of BX stock opened at $132.42 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $98.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.58. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $120.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.36.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a $1.29 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.80%.

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.