Xponance LLC Acquires 11,630 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Xponance LLC increased its Blackstone stake by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 11,630 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 186,538 shares worth about $28.75 million.
• Blackstone reported quarterly EPS of $1.36, topping estimates, while revenue came in at $3.43 billion, slightly below expectations but still up 10% year over year.
• The company recently paid a $1.16 quarterly dividend, and analysts remain generally positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $150.86.

Xponance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 186,538 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 11,630 shares during the quarter. Xponance LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $28,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% during the second quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,748 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,194,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.8% during the third quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,335 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,424,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,686,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trivium Point Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total value of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This represents a 99.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired a total of 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.9%

Blackstone stock opened at $120.67 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $119.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $89.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.59. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 118.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $150.86.

Blackstone Company 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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