Greenleaf Trust Acquires 6,874 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Greenleaf Trust increased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 106.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,339 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 6,874 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust's holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BX. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 3.7% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 4,639 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $648,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the period. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 11.9% in the first quarter. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC now owns 1,634 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the period. Black Diamond Financial LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 7.9% in the first quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 1,563 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 62.8% in the first quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 8,144 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 3,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Planning Directions Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 6.7% in the first quarter. Planning Directions Inc. now owns 1,683 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of NYSE BX traded up $5.53 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $164.21. 5,577,641 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,877,891. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.46, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.65. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $151.12. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month 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). The business 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 prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS 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 dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BX. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $137.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $160.47.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.