Somerset Group LLC Sells 370 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Somerset Group LLC lessened its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,316 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 370 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for approximately 2.6% of Somerset Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Somerset Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,887,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aveo Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $217,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 3,238 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 7,684 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,006,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,324 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $828,000 after acquiring an additional 952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 373,876 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $48,948,000 after acquiring an additional 44,647 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.78.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $154.93 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.59 and a 12-month high of $157.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.75, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.