Arizona State Retirement System Has $28.19 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Arizona State Retirement System reduced its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 201,640 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 6,697 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Blackstone were worth $28,185,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,970,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,469,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,027 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $177,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.1%

BX opened at $162.21 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $143.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.86, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65.

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 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 analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid 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 dividend yield of 2.29%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $161.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased 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 owned 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,000,005. The trade was a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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