Fortis Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Fortis Capital Management opened a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter, buying 42,989 shares worth about $4.94 million.
• Blackstone continues to attract major institutional interest, with investors like Norges Bank and Vanguard holding large stakes; about 70% of the stock is owned by institutions.
• Blackstone recently beat earnings estimates with $1.36 EPS versus $1.34 expected, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $145.71.

Fortis Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 42,989 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $4,943,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Norges Bank bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,178,133 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,709,345 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $417,620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249,269 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone by 1.2% during the fourth 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. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Blackstone from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research raised Blackstone from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on Blackstone from $124.00 to $119.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.71.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $124.13 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.75, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.58. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $119.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $125.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 41,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. This trade represents a 0.86% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This trade represents a -2,529.85% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

About Blackstone

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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