Ames National Corp Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Ames National Corp bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,000 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $690,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 93.9% in the fourth quarter. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 29,060 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,011,000 after purchasing an additional 14,075 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Blackstone by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors now owns 3,680 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $635,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 19.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,109,020 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $708,477,000 after buying an additional 678,111 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $54,648,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $3,809,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% 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 insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.9%

BX stock opened at $144.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $137.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.16.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price 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. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $154.82.

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.

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