Shepherd Financial Partners LLC Has $4.41 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Shepherd Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,515 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the period. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,341,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,637,266,000 after buying an additional 444,887 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,016,046 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,209,707,000 after buying an additional 681,512 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,987,702 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,032,400,000 after acquiring an additional 371,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $974,448,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE BX opened at $135.65 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $154.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $98.97 billion, a PE ratio of 40.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays raised their price objective 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. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.