Woodline Partners LP Invests $7.48 Million in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 43,359 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $7,476,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $239,837,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 38.8% in 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.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $0.48 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $138.82. 615,003 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,526,399. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $101.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.24, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The firm's fifty day moving average is $136.56 and its 200-day moving average is $159.90. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during 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. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Bank of America dropped their price target on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. 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, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $155.65.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

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

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.