Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC Sells 2,241 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC cut its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 245,196 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 2,241 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $32,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. SVB Wealth LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 694.7% in the first quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 152,376 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $20,018,000 after purchasing an additional 133,203 shares in the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 2,554.4% in the 1st quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 13,272 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,744,000 after purchasing an additional 12,772 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 26.1% in the 1st quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 11,142 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,464,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 798,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $104,883,000 after purchasing an additional 65,143 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 39.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,345,005 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $176,695,000 after purchasing an additional 383,827 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BX stock traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $140.51. 1,380,499 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,533,158. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.59 and a 12 month high of $145.16. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.19. The stock has a market cap of $100.42 billion, a PE ratio of 49.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 117.31%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 219 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 219 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Argus upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.56.

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.