Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Sold by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale trimmed its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 170,795 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 9,249 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale's holdings in Blackstone were worth $23,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 41,645 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $7,180,000 after buying an additional 2,494 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 155,953 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $26,889,000 after buying an additional 17,019 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 20,560 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,545,000 after buying an additional 3,322 shares during the period. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 14,103 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,432,000 after buying an additional 3,985 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.4%

BX stock opened at $158.48 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $115.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.74, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $151.12.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 112.05%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen decreased 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. Citigroup decreased their target price on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report 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 for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $156.65.

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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