Alpha Cubed Investments LLC Boosts Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 62.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,144 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 3,141 shares during the quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after buying an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.0% in the fourth 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 period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,016,046 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,209,707,000 after purchasing an additional 681,512 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,987,702 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,032,400,000 after buying an additional 371,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $974,448,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the acquisition, the director owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This represents 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $155.13 on Monday. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $141.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.16. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. 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 market cap 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.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a 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 objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $156.65.

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.

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