Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Acquired by KPP Advisory Services LLC

KPP Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 219.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,472 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 8,565 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after buying an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,341,300 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,637,266,000 after buying an additional 444,887 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,016,046 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,209,707,000 after acquiring an additional 681,512 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Blackstone by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,987,702 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,032,400,000 after purchasing an additional 371,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $974,448,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group cut their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Ten equities research 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 has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $155.65.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:BX opened at $143.62 on Thursday. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $137.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.16. The stock has a market cap of $104.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 112.05%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought 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. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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