Carret Asset Management LLC Has $5.05 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Carret Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,595 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 935 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 763.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $0.54 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $123.77. 2,021,222 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,696,255. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.92 and a 52 week 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. The company has a market cap of $88.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $126.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.20.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 132.86%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer cut Blackstone from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $115.00 to $128.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 price target (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.65.

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.