Czech National Bank Grows Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 168,112 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 11,567 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank's holdings in Blackstone were worth $23,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $155.65.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:BX traded up $0.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $138.80. 1,277,792 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,465,179. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The business's fifty day moving average is $135.57 and its 200-day moving average is $158.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.