Tranquility Partners LLC Has $10.66 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Tranquility Partners LLC boosted its Blackstone stake by 14.3% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 92,292 shares worth about $10.66 million. Blackstone is now its second-largest position and makes up roughly 4% of the portfolio.
• Blackstone reported Q1 earnings of $1.36 per share, topping estimates by $0.02, while revenue rose 10% year over year to $3.43 billion. Analysts expect the company to earn 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• The stock was trading down about 2.5% at $120.12, and the company recently paid a $1.16 quarterly dividend, equal to a 3.9% annualized yield. Insider activity was mixed, with one executive selling shares and a director making a small purchase.

Tranquility Partners LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 14.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 92,292 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 11,551 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up about 4.0% of Tranquility Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Tranquility Partners LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $10,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Blackstone by 99.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $983,690,000 after acquiring an additional 3,178,133 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,709,345 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $417,620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249,269 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $194,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,197 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Blackstone by 476.1% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,324,168 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $204,193,000 after buying an additional 1,094,307 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BX. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Citizens Jmp reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $150.86.

Blackstone Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $120.12 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The firm has a market cap of $89.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the transaction, the insider owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at $113,169,363.51. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders purchased 9,487,234 shares of company stock valued at $189,789,892. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone's business is organized around several principal investment platforms.

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