Fred Alger Management LLC Acquires 46,550 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 22.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 255,884 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 46,550 shares during the quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $44,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,790,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Blackstone by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,970,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. McAdam LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,687 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 11,035 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,903,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Catalina Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased 1,660,538 shares of company stock valued at $24,981,930 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of BX traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $139.41. 3,113,790 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,765,155. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $136.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $101.72 billion, a PE ratio of 38.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 112.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group cut their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $154.82.

Blackstone Profile

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.