Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Bought by Whipplewood Advisors LLC

Whipplewood Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 16,581.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,676 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 10,612 shares during the quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $155.65.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.8%

BX stock traded down $1.10 during trading on Thursday, hitting $137.66. 2,440,481 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,787,446. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $135.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $158.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.92, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during 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, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Blackstone 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.