Ameriprise Financial Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,876,883 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 41,822 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.40% of Blackstone worth $496,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,341,300 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,637,266,000 after purchasing an additional 444,887 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position 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. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,987,702 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,032,400,000 after acquiring an additional 371,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $974,448,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $154.82.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock traded up $3.68 during trading on Thursday, reaching $139.82. 4,851,555 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,771,458. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. 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 company has a market cap of $102.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.52, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $137.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $162.68.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 1,660,538 shares of company stock worth $24,981,930 in the last ninety days. 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.