Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Purchased by Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc.

Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BXFree Report) by 346.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,215 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 30,430 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for about 2.4% of Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $983,690,000 after buying an additional 3,178,133 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,709,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $417,620,000 after buying an additional 1,249,269 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in Blackstone by 476.1% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,324,168 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $204,193,000 after acquiring an additional 1,094,307 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after acquiring an additional 840,258 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $120.88 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.92, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.58. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BXGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. This represents a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,169,363.51. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have acquired 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. HSBC cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.36.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on BX

Blackstone Profile

(Free Report)

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Blackstone (NYSE:BX)

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