Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Cuts Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI reduced its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,821 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises 0.8% of Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $15,078,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $239,837,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 14,608.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,322,598 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $184,873,000 after buying an additional 1,313,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after buying an additional 889,286 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 37,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.65.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $139.89 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $135.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

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.