EFG Asset Management North America Corp. Acquires 17,481 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 116.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,434 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 17,481 shares during the quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 7,846 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $744,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 46.0% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,619 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $212,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 9,026 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Apexium Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 8,949 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,172,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Argus raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Blackstone from a "b" rating to a "c+" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $123.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 219 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,115,488.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 219 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Reginald J. Brown purchased 2,400 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $125.62 per share, for a total transaction of $301,488.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,129,133.38. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $2.21 on Friday, hitting $125.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,935,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,674,262. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.65. The company has a market capitalization of $89.81 billion, a PE ratio of 44.66, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.52. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.06 and a 1 year high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 117.31%.

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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