Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Acquired by BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.

Key Points

• BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. boosted its Blackstone stake by 345% in the fourth quarter, ending with 148,776 shares valued at about $22.9 million.
• Blackstone reported Q1 EPS of $1.36, topping estimates, while revenue came in at $3.43 billion, slightly below forecasts but still up 10% year over year.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $1.16 per share, equal to a 4.0% yield, though the payout ratio is high at 118.67%.

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. lifted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 345.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,776 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 115,346 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for approximately 0.5% of BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.'s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $22,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $117.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.63. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $118.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $132.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. Blackstone's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $156.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $151.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at $182,236,000. This trade represents a -2,529.85% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total value of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at $90,670.32. The trade was a 99.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders purchased 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone 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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