Ames National Corp Takes Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Ames National Corp bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,000 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $690,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. 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 note on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $155.65.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $136.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,608,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,794,288. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.40 billion, a PE ratio of 37.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $137.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.33.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 112.05%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.