Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Reduces Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 501,977 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 4,992 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for approximately 1.5% of Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC owned 0.07% of Blackstone worth $85,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $267,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the second quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the third quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners now owns 2,993 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 15,116 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 384,468 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.01 per share, for a total transaction of $10,000,012.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 16,525,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $429,818,293.17. This trade represents a 2.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,610. This trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.1%

BX opened at $129.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.94 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.76. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $149.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $157.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The business had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.69 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.49 per share. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 153.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on BX. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $164.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.82.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.