Bellecapital International Ltd. Acquires Shares of 1,951 Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Bellecapital International Ltd. acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,951 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 25.0% in the first quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,114 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 823 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Blackstone by 2.2% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 115,736 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $16,178,000 after acquiring an additional 2,462 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 31.7% during the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 7,042 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,697 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 26.4% during the first quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 12,090 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,690,000 after acquiring an additional 2,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integral Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 7.2% during the first quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,852 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $4.42 on Friday, reaching $136.37. 3,021,337 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,798,170. 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 $99.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $136.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $155.85.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted 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). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $155.65.

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.