Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 34,526 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,558,241 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 34,526 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.35% of Blackstone worth $441,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $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 increased its position in Blackstone by 38.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,990,238 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $515,577,000 after purchasing an additional 835,170 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. 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.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $154.82.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. The trade was a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 301 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders acquired 1,660,538 shares of company stock valued at $24,981,930. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX traded down $1.72 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $146.70. The company had a trading volume of 3,396,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,776,705. The stock has a market cap of $107.04 billion, a PE ratio of 40.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $136.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month 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 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 company 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 earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

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.