Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Purchased by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 168,713 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 2,159 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $23,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter worth $36,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock traded down $1.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $162.21. 3,976,798 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,887,856. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $143.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $151.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65. 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 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This represents 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BX. UBS Group decreased 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. Citizens Jmp upgraded 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. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $161.29.

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.