Vise Technologies Inc. Grows Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Vise Technologies Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 232.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,322 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 7,919 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,952,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,109,000. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 214.2% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after buying an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 716,319 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $123,508,000 after acquiring an additional 5,951 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. The trade was a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citizens Jmp upgraded 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 note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $155.65.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $0.10 on Thursday, hitting $138.31. 647,125 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,777,695. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $136.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.75. The company has a market cap of $100.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 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 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

About Blackstone

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.