Strategic Advisors LLC Takes $659,000 Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,711 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $659,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $137.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,295,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,809,164. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $137.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.42. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $100.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders 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 2.71%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is 112.05%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.