Sweeney & Michel LLC Invests $939,000 in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sweeney & Michel LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,716 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $939,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,365,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 67.6% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 29,224 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,039,000 after buying an additional 11,786 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,239,000. Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 166.1% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 17,918 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 11,184 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 5,001 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $862,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of BX traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $139.20. 1,097,383 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,782,230. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The firm's fifty day moving average is $135.57 and its 200-day moving average is $158.27. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $101.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is 112.05%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Bank of America lowered their target price on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $155.65.

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.