Wulff Hansen & CO. Cuts Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Wulff Hansen & CO. lessened its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 59,296 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 421 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises approximately 6.6% of Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Westwood Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth about $888,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Blackstone by 3,074.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 107,064 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,255,000 after acquiring an additional 103,691 shares in the last quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 35,738 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,424,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,208,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Blackstone by 8.6% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,102,321 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $137,272,000 after purchasing an additional 87,733 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America raised their price target on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.78.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $157.21 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.59 and a 12-month high of $161.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $140.08 and a 200 day moving average of $129.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.90%.

Blackstone 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.