Trust Co. of Vermont Has $245,000 Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Trust Co. of Vermont lowered its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,875 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 36,215 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,741,000 after buying an additional 9,699 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 367,841 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $48,158,000 after purchasing an additional 28,856 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Blackstone by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 254,099 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,267,000 after buying an additional 20,830 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $855,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 303,069 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,348,000 after purchasing an additional 15,875 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $122.16 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $87.40 and a twelve month high of $133.56. The company has a market cap of $87.30 billion, a PE ratio of 43.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.53. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $122.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 117.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.65.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.