U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 294 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,742 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 294 shares during the quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,652,526,000 after acquiring an additional 14,396,655 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 13,816.5% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,623,868 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,744,370,000 after buying an additional 3,597,828 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Blackstone by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,877,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $736,833,000 after buying an additional 2,098,150 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 255.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,698,085 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $289,073,000 after buying an additional 1,938,593 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at $190,920,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus increased their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Friday, January 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 232 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total transaction of $3,694,498.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 982,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 232 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 34,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,349,313. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.8 %

BX stock traded down $1.00 during trading on Friday, reaching $117.99. 4,437,459 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,497,968. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.92 and a 12 month high of $133.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.85. The company has a market capitalization of $84.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.31%.

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.