Creegan & Nassoura Financial Group LLC Lowers Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Creegan & Nassoura Financial Group LLC trimmed its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 48,185 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 225 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up approximately 5.6% of Creegan & Nassoura Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Creegan & Nassoura Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,341,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,637,266,000 after purchasing an additional 444,887 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,987,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,032,400,000 after purchasing an additional 371,677 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $974,448,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,045,143 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $697,464,000 after buying an additional 113,732 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities raised shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Blackstone from $174.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.72.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $130.26 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.88, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 158.68%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.