Golden State Wealth Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 99.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 116,329 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 58,057 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for approximately 1.2% of Golden State Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Golden State Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $16,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $289,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $472,000. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 190.4% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 7,181 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,238,000 after acquiring an additional 4,708 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. 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 report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $155.65.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,000,005. The trade was 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 Price Performance

BX traded down $0.43 on Wednesday, reaching $143.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,908,569 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,803,833. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $104.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.23.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

About Blackstone

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.