Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Purchased by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 24.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,755 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone by 30.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,652,526,000 after buying an additional 14,396,655 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 13,816.5% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,623,868 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,744,370,000 after purchasing an additional 3,597,828 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,877,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $736,833,000 after purchasing an additional 2,098,150 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 255.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,698,085 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $289,073,000 after buying an additional 1,938,593 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at about $190,920,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 232 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,349,313. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $127.08 per share, with a total value of $29,482.56. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Reginald J. Brown purchased 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $125.62 per share, with a total value of $301,488.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 16,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,129,133.38. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 2,851 shares of company stock valued at $357,137 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $123.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market cap of $87.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.46, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.52. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.28 and a 52 week high of $133.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $124.83 and a 200-day moving average of $119.45.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 was paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $125.00 target price (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Argus boosted their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.65.

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.