Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Bought by Chicago Capital LLC

Chicago Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 10.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,669 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 3,028 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $63,109,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares during the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $1,747,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after buying an additional 889,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 716,319 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $123,508,000 after buying an additional 5,951 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.2%

Blackstone stock opened at $138.06 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.73 billion, a PE ratio of 38.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given 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 2.69%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Ten 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 stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $155.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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, 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 approximately $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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