Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC Has $6.60 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,235 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 1,904 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises 1.1% of Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $239,837,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 14,608.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,322,598 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $184,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. 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. Barclays increased their target price on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $155.65.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $143.62 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $137.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $104.79 billion, a PE ratio of 43.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.65. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its 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). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was bought 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 owns 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company 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.

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