Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Bought by Howland Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Howland Capital Management LLC increased its Blackstone stake by 50.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 27,989 additional shares and lifting its holdings to 83,004 shares worth about $12.8 million.
• Other institutional investors also raised or adjusted positions, and hedge funds and institutions now own 70% of Blackstone’s stock, showing continued strong interest from large investors.
• Blackstone reported quarterly EPS of $1.36, beating estimates, while revenue rose 10% year over year; the company also paid a $1.16 quarterly dividend, equal to a 3.8% yield.

Howland Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 50.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 83,004 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 27,989 shares during the quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $12,794,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. United Bank grew its position in Blackstone by 14.7% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $67,703,000 after acquiring an additional 8,655 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Blackstone in a report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Citizens Jmp lowered their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Blackstone from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $150.86.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 355 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following 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. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 899,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased a total of 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $122.63 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The stock has a market cap of $91.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.36, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $119.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.03. 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 (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 118.67%.

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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