Bellecapital International Ltd. Makes New $273,000 Investment in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Bellecapital International Ltd. bought a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,970,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 8,110 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,398,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,469,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $141.53 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company’s 50-day moving average is $135.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $103.27 billion, a PE ratio of 38.99, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced 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 business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director now owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.65.

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.