Strategic Advisors LLC Takes $659,000 Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $659,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Blackstone by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 4,469 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $268,000. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 18,036 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,110,000 after buying an additional 1,171 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 36,461 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,664,000 after acquiring an additional 9,375 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.65.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of BX stock opened at $138.06 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $136.88 and its 200-day moving average is $155.02. The stock has a market cap of $100.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.03, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.65. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Blackstone Company 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.