GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Makes New $471,000 Investment in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,368 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 3,595 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its position in Blackstone by 21.9% during the first quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,023 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth about $489,000. Calamos Advisors LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 97,486 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $13,627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cohen Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 1.2% during the first quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,020 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,917,000 after buying an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on BX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $156.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX traded down $2.08 during trading on Monday, reaching $153.05. 4,112,668 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,858,906. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $111.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.10, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $141.20 and a 200 day moving average of $151.16.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Blackstone Company 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.