Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Bought by SJS Investment Consulting Inc.

SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 335.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,749 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 2,117 shares during the quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.2% during the first quarter. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC now owns 142,003 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $19,849,000 after purchasing an additional 3,122 shares during the last quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 4.6% during the first quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 5,186 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $725,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 24.9% during the first quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC now owns 12,416 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,735,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,886,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 5.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,462 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,323,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. The trade was a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX traded down $1.43 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $141.53. The stock had a trading volume of 3,228,449 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,799,632. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $135.52 and a 200 day moving average of $156.70. The stock has a market cap of $103.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.65. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is 112.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $155.65.

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.