Banque Pictet & Cie SA Has $5.67 Million Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 28.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,543 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 9,071 shares during the quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA's holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. OMC Financial Services LTD lifted its position in Blackstone by 36.9% in the 1st quarter. OMC Financial Services LTD now owns 9,052 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 2,442 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1,137.3% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 730 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 18,592 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,599,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,341 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,284,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 106.3% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 13,339 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,865,000 after acquiring an additional 6,874 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America decreased their price target on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $161.29.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock traded down $1.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $162.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,976,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,887,856. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $143.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.98. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $118.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.86, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

About Blackstone

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.