Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Purchased by First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.

Key Points

• First Fiduciary Investment Counsel raised its stake in Blackstone by 44.5% to 66,582 shares (worth ~$10.26M), representing about 2.0% of its portfolio and the firm's 23rd largest holding.
• Significant insider activity occurred: major shareholder Holdings IV GP Mana Blackstone bought 2,868,069 shares (~$75M) increasing ownership 18.2%, while Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp LLC sold 7,477,504 shares, cutting its stake by 99.66%.
• Blackstone slightly beat quarterly estimates with EPS $1.36 vs $1.34 and revenue $3.62B vs $3.45B, and declared a quarterly dividend of $1.16 (annualized $4.64, yield 3.8%) with a payout ratio of 118.67%.

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 44.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,582 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 20,495 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up approximately 2.0% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $10,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jain Global LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth $9,116,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 1,270,608 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $217,083,000 after purchasing an additional 24,237 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 20.4% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 840,401 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $143,582,000 after buying an additional 142,479 shares in the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in Blackstone by 16,035.1% during the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $194,746,000 after buying an additional 1,133,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 346,318 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $58,337,000 after acquiring an additional 7,053 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citizens Jmp decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Argus dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $150.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 2,868,069 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $75,000,004.35. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,628,295 shares in the company, valued at $487,129,914.25. This trade represents a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This trade represents a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $121.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $116.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $137.48. The company has a market cap of $90.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.07, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.74. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.62 billion during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th will be given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 118.67%.

Blackstone Company 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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