Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 4,435 Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 4,435 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $765,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 2,723 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in Blackstone by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 29,224 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,039,000 after buying an additional 11,786 shares during the last quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 4,996 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $861,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New England Research & Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $974,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.3%

BX traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $138.45. 6,190,012 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,794,766. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $135.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BX. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup lowered their target price on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $155.65.

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.