AQR Capital Management LLC Has $12.24 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 287.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 71,007 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 52,659 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $12,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $239,837,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.3% during the fourth 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 period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,990,238 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $515,577,000 after buying an additional 835,170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE BX traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $139.41. 3,113,790 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,768,842. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The company's 50-day moving average is $137.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $162.47. The company has a market capitalization of $101.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the purchase, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 1,660,538 shares of company stock valued at $24,981,930 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BX shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their price target 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $154.82.

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.