CWA Asset Management Group LLC Has $11.06 Million Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC lessened its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 79,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,857 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $11,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $135.65 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $98.97 billion, a PE ratio of 40.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.65. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $136.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 37,067 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.65.

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.