Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC Reduces Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC reduced its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 12.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,455 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 355 shares during the period. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $239,837,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 14,608.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,322,598 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $184,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313,606 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 worth $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.2%

Blackstone stock opened at $137.28 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $136.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.76. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $100.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.35, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.65.

About Blackstone

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.