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

Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 43,359 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $7,476,000.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $63,109,000. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 214.2% during the fourth 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. grew its stake in 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 last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 716,319 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $123,508,000 after acquiring an additional 5,951 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the acquisition, the director now 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $155.65.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock traded up $3.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $139.38. 1,921,535 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,787,420. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $160.04. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $101.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.37, 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 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.