Securian Asset Management Inc. Has $5.88 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Securian Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,912 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 6,020 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,880,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 763.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of several recent research reports. TheStreet cut Blackstone from a "b" rating to a "c+" rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays reiterated an "equal weight" rating and issued a $125.00 price target (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, April 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $123.65.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $2.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $125.67. 3,954,095 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,481,419. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $124.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.88. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.06 and a twelve month high of $133.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.41, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. Blackstone's revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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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