Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 4,285 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 13.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,337 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 4,285 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $239,837,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 14,608.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,322,598 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $184,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313,606 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th 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.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $137.66. 2,456,006 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,787,449. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $135.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $158.27. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $100.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.92, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The business 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 firm earned $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 2.70%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BX. Barclays boosted their price target on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.