Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 19.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,119 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 520 shares during the quarter. Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,652,526,000 after purchasing an additional 14,396,655 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 13.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,825,769 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,588,433,000 after buying an additional 1,744,652 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Blackstone by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,877,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $736,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,098,150 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,246,005 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $562,058,000 after buying an additional 106,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $4,744,370,000 after acquiring an additional 3,597,828 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus increased their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 target price (down from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.65.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 219 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,115,488.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 2,851 shares of company stock worth $357,137. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded up $3.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $123.08. 3,668,528 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,671,015. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.28 and a 1 year high of $133.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company’s 50-day moving average is $124.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.45. The company has a market capitalization of $87.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.01, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.52.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 117.31%.

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.