International Assets Investment Management LLC Raises Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,680 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,640 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 763.0% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $123.00 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $119.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.90 billion, a PE ratio of 43.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.28 and a 12 month high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The business’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 117.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the purchase, the director now owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 2,851 shares of company stock valued at $357,137 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Blackstone from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.65.

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.