Core Alternative Capital Trims Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Core Alternative Capital lessened its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 42.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,038 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 14,822 shares during the period. Core Alternative Capital's holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,341,300 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,637,266,000 after purchasing an additional 444,887 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,016,046 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,209,707,000 after purchasing an additional 681,512 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 371,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $974,448,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on BX. UBS Group dropped their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $156.65.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $2.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $153.05. 4,112,668 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,858,906. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $141.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.16. The firm has a market cap of $111.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the purchase, the director owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,000,005. The trade was a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.