Blackstone Inc. $BX Position Raised by Meitav Investment House Ltd.

Key Points

• Meitav Investment House Ltd. increased its Blackstone stake by 14.8% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 421,630 shares worth about $48.5 million.
• Several other large institutional investors also added to Blackstone positions, and about 70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Blackstone insiders bought more than 10.25 million shares over the last 90 days, while the stock recently traded down to $120.35 after the company reported quarterly EPS that beat estimates and maintained a dividend yield of 3.9%.

Meitav Investment House Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 14.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 421,630 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 54,385 shares during the quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. owned about 0.06% of Blackstone worth $48,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Blackstone by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 636,613 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after acquiring an additional 179,213 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,275,747,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Blackstone by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,251,474,000 after purchasing an additional 329,379 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $182,236,000. This trade represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone purchased 765,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at $206,039,270.30. This represents a 10.75% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX traded down $3.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $120.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,161,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,942,184. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. 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 company has a market cap of $89.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $119.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.87.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The company's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BX. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $149.36.

About Blackstone

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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