Financial Enhancement Group LLC Buys 7,893 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Financial Enhancement Group LLC raised its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 39.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,731 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 7,893 shares during the period. Financial Enhancement Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,189,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Family CFO Inc bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 6.0%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $112.90 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $83.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $121.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.59. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The business had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 765,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $20,000,001.54. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $206,039,270.30. This represents a 10.75% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.86.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.