GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Acquires New Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,368 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in Blackstone by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,970,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 8,110 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,398,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,469,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded up $1.57 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $155.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,048,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,857,888. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $141.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $156.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.