North Star Investment Management Corp. Has $22.47 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

North Star Investment Management Corp. trimmed its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 160,760 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 4,076 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up about 1.6% of North Star Investment Management Corp.'s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. North Star Investment Management Corp.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $22,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in Blackstone by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,970,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 8,110 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,398,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,460,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:BX traded up $1.59 on Wednesday, reaching $137.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,687,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,800,992. The firm has a market cap of $100.16 billion, a PE ratio of 41.35, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.65. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The business's 50-day moving average price is $136.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays raised their price objective 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. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.