State of Michigan Retirement System Grows Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 198,600 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System's holdings in Blackstone were worth $27,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $974,448,000. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $239,837,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew 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 valued at $184,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,313,606 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,990,238 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $515,577,000 after purchasing an additional 835,170 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Barclays reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.29.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of BX stock traded down $1.85 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $162.21. 3,976,798 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,887,856. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $118.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The stock's 50 day moving average is $143.19 and its 200-day moving average is $151.07.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 owned 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 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.