North Star Investment Management Corp. Purchases 9,973 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• North Star Investment Management increased its Blackstone stake by 6.2% in the first quarter, buying 9,973 additional shares and bringing its total to 170,012 shares worth about $19.55 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mixed but constructive: Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy,” with 13 analysts rating it Buy and 12 Hold, and an average target price of $150.86.
• Blackstone reported solid quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.36 versus expectations of $1.34 and 10% year-over-year revenue growth, while also paying a $1.16 quarterly dividend that implies a 4.0% yield.

North Star Investment Management Corp. grew its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 170,012 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 9,973 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises approximately 1.2% of North Star Investment Management Corp.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. North Star Investment Management Corp.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $19,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Financial Network Corp raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,748 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management raised its holdings in Blackstone by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $150.86.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.2%

Blackstone stock opened at $115.66 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $120.62 and a 200-day moving average of $129.07. The company has a market cap of $85.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.59. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid 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 is currently 118.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 765,111 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $20,000,001.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at $206,039,270.30. This trade represents a 10.75% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at $5,145,286.72. This trade represents a 0.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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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