1,900 Shares in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Acquired by Eagle Ridge Investment Management

Eagle Ridge Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 30.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,652,526,000 after acquiring an additional 14,396,655 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 13,816.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,623,868 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,744,370,000 after acquiring an additional 3,597,828 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Blackstone by 43.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,877,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $736,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,098,150 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Blackstone by 255.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,698,085 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $289,073,000 after acquiring an additional 1,938,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter worth $190,920,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total transaction of $3,694,498.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 982,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total value of $6,268,570.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 393,143 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,294,783.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total value of $3,694,498.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 982,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $2.18 on Monday, hitting $120.31. The stock had a trading volume of 1,246,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,655,658. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.92 and a 52-week high of $133.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $85.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $125.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.57.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The firm’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 117.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Argus lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.65.

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.