Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Has $199.08 Million Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,154,633 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 22,334 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.16% of Blackstone worth $199,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of 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. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $154.82.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $0.40 on Friday, hitting $139.41. The company had a trading volume of 3,113,790 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,765,155. 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 current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $101.72 billion, a PE ratio of 38.40, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $162.18.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders 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 was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 112.05%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 1,660,538 shares of company stock valued at $24,981,930. 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.