Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Bought by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 95.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,485 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 6,575 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $63,109,000. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 214.2% during the fourth quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,845,000 after purchasing an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the fourth 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. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 716,319 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $123,508,000 after buying an additional 5,951 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $0.70 during trading on Monday, hitting $136.23. The stock had a trading volume of 2,608,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,794,288. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business 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 yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $155.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the purchase, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.