Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Has $27.93 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Axxcess Wealth Management increased its Blackstone stake by 224.8% in the fourth quarter, ending with 181,209 shares valued at about $27.93 million.
• Blackstone reported Q1 earnings of $1.36 per share, topping estimates, while revenue rose 10% year over year to $3.43 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.16 per share, equal to a 3.9% yield, even as analysts currently rate the stock a Hold on average.

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 224.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 181,209 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 125,415 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $27,932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Jain Global LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at $9,116,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% in the third quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 1,270,608 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $217,083,000 after acquiring an additional 24,237 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 20.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 840,401 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $143,582,000 after acquiring an additional 142,479 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $194,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 346,318 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $58,337,000 after buying an additional 7,053 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $118.58 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $117.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.09 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.63. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone's payout ratio is 118.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on BX. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 20th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Citizens Jmp lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $151.05.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the sale, the insider owned 899,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at $5,145,286.72. This represents a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 13,502,092 shares of company stock valued at $294,789,896 and have sold 9,128,660 shares valued at $46,457,920. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone's business is organized around several principal investment platforms.

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