CWA Asset Management Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,979 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,705 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $14,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 57.7% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silvant Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Monday, hitting $175.97. 446,016 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,456,735. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.88 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $180.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.31. The company has a market cap of $127.05 billion, a PE ratio of 60.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BX. StockNews.com downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $188.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.00.

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.