Cozad Asset Management Inc. Sells 3,884 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 93,405 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,884 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up about 1.4% of Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $12,229,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 776,715 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $83,217,000 after purchasing an additional 60,473 shares during the period. Accurate Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,497 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $474,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $1,888,000. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 13,581.9% during the third quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 401,153 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $42,980,000 after purchasing an additional 398,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 10.4% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 25,804 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,765,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total transaction of $3,694,498.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $2.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $118.49. The company had a trading volume of 1,276,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,639,196. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $125.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.68. The company has a market capitalization of $84.68 billion, a PE ratio of 42.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $79.92 and a one year high of $133.56.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 117.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.65.

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.