Midwest Trust Co Buys 8,790 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Midwest Trust Co boosted its Blackstone stake by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 8,790 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 188,801 shares valued at about $29.1 million.
• Blackstone saw mixed insider activity: a major shareholder bought 2.87 million shares, while insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares; overall, insiders sold more than 9.1 million shares over the last three months.
• Analysts remain divided on BX, with a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $150.95, even after Blackstone reported quarterly EPS of $1.36, topping estimates, and announced a $1.16 quarterly dividend.

Midwest Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,801 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 8,790 shares during the quarter. Midwest Trust Co's holdings in Blackstone were worth $29,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,365,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 14.7% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,024,000 after buying an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $67,703,000 after buying an additional 8,655 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 2,868,069 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $75,000,004.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 18,628,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $487,129,914.25. The trade was a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 899,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at $113,169,363.51. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 9,103,660 shares of company stock worth $45,982,920 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BX. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $156.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $173.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research cut shares of Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $138.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $150.95.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX opened at $123.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $116.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $136.17. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.91 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.67%.

Blackstone 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.