GFG Capital LLC Decreases Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

GFG Capital LLC reduced its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 18.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,307 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 15,241 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up approximately 2.7% of GFG Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. GFG Capital LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% 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 Stock Performance

Shares of BX traded down $1.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $162.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,976,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,885,861. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $118.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.86, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $151.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 112.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Blackstone from $152.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $161.29.

Blackstone Company 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.