Capital Advisors Inc. OK Increases Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 223,591 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 1,794 shares during the quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK's holdings in Blackstone were worth $31,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BX. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $156.65.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the purchase, the director owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. This trade represents 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE BX traded up $2.48 on Tuesday, hitting $155.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 760,833 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,847,191. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $141.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.04. The firm has a market cap of $113.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.67, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 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.