Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 9,472 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Voya Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 173,498 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 9,472 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $29,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BX. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $239,837,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Blackstone by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 38.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,990,238 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $515,577,000 after purchasing an additional 835,170 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $154.82.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of BX traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $133.45. The company had a trading volume of 2,270,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,763,535. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $140.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for 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 company earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is 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.