Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Has $19.98 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 142,962 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 2,531 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $19,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 105.4% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 6,878 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $63,109,000. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares during the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $1,747,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of BX traded down $1.42 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $171.07. The stock had a trading volume of 1,312,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,872,479. 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 firm has a market cap of $124.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.73. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $162.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% 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.

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.