Leonteq Securities AG Has $4.45 Million Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Leonteq Securities AG increased its Blackstone stake by 470.5% in the first quarter, ending with 38,686 shares valued at about $4.45 million.
• Blackstone remains heavily owned by institutions, with several major investors, including Norges Bank, Capital Research Global Investors, and Vanguard, also reporting significant holdings or increases. Overall, 70% of the stock is held by institutional investors.
• Analysts are mixed but still generally constructive on BX: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with a target price of $149.36, while the shares recently traded at $122.73 after Blackstone beat quarterly EPS estimates and continued to pay a 3.8% dividend yield.

Leonteq Securities AG raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 470.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,686 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 31,905 shares during the period. Leonteq Securities AG's holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $983,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,178,133 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 85.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,709,345 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $417,620,000 after buying an additional 1,249,269 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Blackstone by 476.1% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,324,168 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $204,193,000 after buying an additional 1,094,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,046,859,000 after acquiring an additional 840,258 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Blackstone from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $116.00 to $114.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut Blackstone from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $149.36.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $122.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $119.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $128.06. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at $182,236,000. The trade was a -2,529.85% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,233.72. This represents a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone's business is organized around several principal investment platforms.

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