EP Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 290 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,108 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 290 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 219 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the purchase, the director now owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,115,488.60. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $119.48 per share, with a total value 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. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $127.56.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of BX stock traded up $1.98 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $142.00. 3,214,767 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,556,319. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.59 and a 1 year high of $145.16. The stock has a market cap of $101.48 billion, a PE ratio of 49.49, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $125.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.86.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. 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 prior year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 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.