Segment Wealth Management LLC Acquires 9,215 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Segment Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 10.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 95,919 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 9,215 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $13,408,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BX. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $239,837,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 14,608.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,322,598 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $184,873,000 after buying an additional 1,313,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after buying an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on BX. Barclays raised their price target on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $155.65.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 acquisition, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:BX opened at $137.28 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The firm's fifty day moving average is $137.03 and its 200-day moving average is $154.42. The firm has a market cap of $100.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is 112.05%.

About Blackstone

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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