Van Cleef Asset Management Inc Trims Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Van Cleef Asset Management Inc lowered its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,850 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 164 shares during the quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 position 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 worth $4,744,370,000 after buying an additional 3,597,828 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Blackstone by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,877,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $736,833,000 after buying an additional 2,098,150 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,938,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $190,920,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 price target (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, April 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.65.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total value of $3,694,498.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $125,773,399.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total value of $3,694,498.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $125,773,399.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:BX traded down $0.51 on Thursday, reaching $123.27. 3,616,532 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,695,260. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $126.21 and a 200-day moving average of $118.24. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.92 and a 52-week high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 132.86%.

About Blackstone

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.