Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 534,764 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 10,362 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.07% of Blackstone worth $92,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,790,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Blackstone by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. McAdam LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,687 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 11,035 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,903,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX traded up $2.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $127.40. 2,690,726 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,726,112. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The firm has a market cap of $92.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $143.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $164.45.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.92%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 158.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $153.72.

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.