Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Purchased by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 10.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 141,786 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 13,014 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Blackstone were worth $21,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $471,000. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 3,595 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its stake in Blackstone by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 2,023 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $489,000. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 97,486 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $13,627,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $156.65.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock traded down $2.08 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $153.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,112,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,858,906. The stock has a market cap of $111.67 billion, a PE ratio of 46.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $141.20 and a 200 day moving average of $151.16. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the insider owned 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.