Meketa Capital LLC Purchases New Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Meketa Capital LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 16,253 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,802,000. Blackstone makes up 6.3% of Meketa Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $239,837,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew 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 last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have bought 1,660,538 shares of company stock valued at $24,981,930 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on BX shares. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $154.82.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX opened at $149.00 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $108.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.05, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The company's 50 day moving average is $136.80 and its 200 day moving average is $162.05. 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 issued 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). Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The firm 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 firm earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company 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 2.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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