Cornerstone Advisory LLC Increases Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Cornerstone Advisory LLC sharply increased its Blackstone stake in the first quarter, boosting holdings by 651.9% to 31,243 shares worth about $3.6 million.
• Blackstone reported Q1 earnings of $1.36 per share, topping estimates, while revenue rose 10% year over year to $3.43 billion.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $1.16 per share and has a 3.7% yield, though its payout ratio is high at 118.67%.

Cornerstone Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 651.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,243 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 27,088 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Blackstone by 99.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $983,690,000 after buying an additional 3,178,133 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 85.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,709,345 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $417,620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249,269 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 476.1% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,324,168 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $204,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,307 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $124.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.29. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $92.46 billion, a PE ratio of 31.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 118.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BX. Barclays decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $124.00 to $119.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $146.52.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 355 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 41,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone's business is organized around several principal investment platforms.

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