Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Boosts Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 157.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,462 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 2,732 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $624,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Sage Rhino Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 4.1% during the first quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 7,973 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,114,000 after buying an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 119.5% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,659 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,150,000 after buying an additional 4,714 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.3% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 198,600 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $27,760,000 after buying an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 7.7% during the first quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 2,226 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arcus Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.7% during the first quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,879 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $682,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.1%

Blackstone stock traded down $1.85 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $162.21. 3,976,798 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,887,856. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.86, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $143.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the purchase, the director owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BX. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective 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. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $137.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.29.

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.