Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stock Holdings Lifted by Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA grew its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 145.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,004 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 4,154 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA's holdings in Blackstone were worth $979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,016,046 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,209,707,000 after purchasing an additional 681,512 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,987,702 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,032,400,000 after acquiring an additional 371,677 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $974,448,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on BX. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Citigroup cut their price target on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Citizens Jmp raised shares of 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $155.65.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $4.42 on Friday, hitting $136.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,021,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,798,170. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $136.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.85. The company has a market capitalization of $99.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.65. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. 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 firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. Blackstone's dividend 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.