Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC Invests $1.11 Million in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,457 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,113,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,109,000. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 214.2% during the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,845,000 after purchasing an additional 15,205 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 716,319 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $123,508,000 after acquiring an additional 5,951 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $155.65.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.0%

Blackstone stock traded up $2.74 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $138.86. 984,436 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,783,456. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $136.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $160.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,000,005. The trade was a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.