Waverly Advisors LLC Has $4.78 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Waverly Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 23.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,708 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 5,204 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $239,837,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $11,533,972,000 after buying an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 38.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,990,238 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $515,577,000 after acquiring an additional 835,170 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $0.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $136.23. 2,608,968 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,786,373. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $137.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $160.55. The firm has a market cap 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 112.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Barclays raised their price target on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citizens Jmp upgraded Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.