Heritage Investors Management Corp Purchases 7,425 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Heritage Investors Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 155.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,214 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 7,425 shares during the quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp's holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,599,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Blackstone by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 182,545 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $18,842,000 after purchasing an additional 47,097 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 112.3% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 188,281 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $20,172,000 after purchasing an additional 99,574 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $614,000. Advisor Partners II LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 12,410 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3,455.7% during the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 54,900 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,882,000 after acquiring an additional 53,356 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of BX traded up $3.20 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $123.00. The company had a trading volume of 5,938,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,699,540. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.28 and a 52 week high of $133.56. The company's 50 day moving average price is $124.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $87.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.46, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.52.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BX shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Citigroup lowered shares of Blackstone from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a report on Friday, January 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $127.08 per share, with a total value of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 34,225 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,349,313. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 2,851 shares of company stock worth $357,137. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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