Axa S.A. raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 55.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,339 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 18,632 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,341,300 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,637,266,000 after purchasing an additional 444,887 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Blackstone by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,016,046 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,209,707,000 after buying an additional 681,512 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $974,448,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America cut their target price on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $154.82.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Blackstone
Insider Transactions at Blackstone
In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.
Blackstone Stock Performance
Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $136.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The firm's 50 day moving average is $138.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $163.07.
Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Blackstone Cuts Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.
About Blackstone
(
Free Report)
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.
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