Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC Lowers Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC lessened its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,075 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 203 shares during the period. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 6,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,182,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $285,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $19,477,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.9%

BX opened at $140.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $102.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.65. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The business’s 50 day moving average is $135.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.65.

Blackstone Company 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.