Signet Financial Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Signet Financial Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 20.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,108 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 531 shares during the period. Signet Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BX. Fairfield Bush & CO. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 56.1% during the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 4,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $540,000 after buying an additional 1,530 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 34.2% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 8,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 18,446 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,341,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 38,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,878,000 after purchasing an additional 4,366 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.1 %

BX stock opened at $123.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $88.04 billion, a PE ratio of 67.32, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $126.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.64. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $79.92 and a one year high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The asset manager reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.48 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 17.30%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 205.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BX. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $120.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $128.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, TheStreet cut Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total value of $6,268,570.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,294,783.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other 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 transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.