Mutual Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Mutual Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 10.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,344 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 1,654 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, 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, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. The trade was a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the acquisition, the director owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citizens Jmp upgraded Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $156.65.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $155.13 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $113.19 billion, a PE ratio of 46.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $141.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.42.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 112.05%.

Blackstone 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.

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