William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $7.22 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management sharply increased its Blackstone stake by 3,176% in the fourth quarter, ending with 46,814 shares valued at about $7.22 million.
• Blackstone reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.36 per share on revenue of $3.43 billion, with revenue rising 10% year over year.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $1.16 per share and now offers an annualized yield of about 3.9%, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $151.05.

William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 3,176.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,814 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 45,385 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This trade represents a -2,529.85% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896 and have sold 9,128,660 shares valued at $46,457,920. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $118.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $87.79 billion, a PE ratio of 30.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.63. The firm's fifty day moving average is $118.31 and its 200-day moving average is $133.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. Blackstone's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Citizens Jmp cut their target price 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. Citigroup restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $151.05.

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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