Principle Wealth Partners LLC Buys 5,625 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 31.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,782 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 5,625 shares during the quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 65,513 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,296,000 after purchasing an additional 6,938 shares during the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 22,086 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,262 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,800 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,158,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association raised its stake in Blackstone by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 105,369 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $18,168,000 after acquiring an additional 15,497 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of BX stock traded down $0.71 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $177.39. 831,544 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,302,688. The company has a market cap of $129.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.65. The company's 50-day moving average price is $149.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.35. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. 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 report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.12.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the acquisition, the director owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was purchased 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 directly owned 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders purchased 2,849,769 shares of company stock valued at $54,932,307. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.