Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 152,048 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its Blackstone stake by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 152,048 additional shares and bringing its total to 992,449 shares worth about $153 million.
• Blackstone reported quarterly EPS of $1.36, slightly ahead of expectations, while revenue of $3.43 billion came in just below estimates but still rose 10% from a year earlier.
• The company recently paid a $1.16 quarterly dividend and currently yields about 4.0%, though its payout ratio is elevated at 118.67%.

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 18.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 992,449 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 152,048 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.13% of Blackstone worth $152,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Redwood Financial Network Corp raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,748 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,335 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,424,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,686,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Trivium Point Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $117.00 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $118.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $132.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.92 billion, a PE ratio of 29.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 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. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.Blackstone's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on BX. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $138.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $151.05.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total value of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This trade represents a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone bought 9,486,795 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. The trade was a -2,529.85% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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