Apollon Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 152.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 124,744 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 75,412 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $17,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 105.4% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,874,000 after buying an additional 6,878 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,109,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares during the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,747,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. The trade was a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $162.21 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $143.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.86, a PEG ratio of 1.47 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.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. 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, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $161.29.

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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