Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) is Sanders Morris Harris LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Sanders Morris Harris LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 531,780 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 22,021 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises approximately 11.5% of Sanders Morris Harris LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Sanders Morris Harris LLC owned about 0.07% of Blackstone worth $74,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Blackstone by 2.2% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,325,499 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $185,278,000 after purchasing an additional 28,502 shares during the last quarter. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 3.8% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,459 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 13.7% during the first quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 20.0% during the first quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 2,100 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 acquisition, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on BX. Barclays increased their target price on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $155.65.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:BX traded up $0.44 on Thursday, reaching $139.20. 1,097,383 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,782,209. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $135.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $158.27. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.