Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Purchased by Sonora Investment Management Group LLC

Sonora Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 142,003 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 3,122 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for 1.6% of Sonora Investment Management Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $19,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $155.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director now owns 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $0.71 on Thursday, reaching $140.68. The company had a trading volume of 2,296,920 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,412,199. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.65 billion, a PE ratio of 38.75, a PEG 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 firm's 50 day simple moving average is $135.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.