Teacher Retirement System of Texas Raises Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 110.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 139,039 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 72,864 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Blackstone were worth $19,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,970,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 8,110 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,460,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX traded up $1.57 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $155.13. The company had a trading volume of 2,048,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,850,287. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $141.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $151.42. The firm has a market cap of $113.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.72, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96.

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). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on BX shares. TD Cowen decreased 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. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. 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, Bank of America lowered their price target on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $156.65.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.