Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Purchased by Axxcess Wealth Management LLC

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 224.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 181,209 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 125,415 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $27,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,100,868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335,060 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $194,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,197 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 115.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $162,861,000 after buying an additional 583,384 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 11.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,107,665 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $701,795,000 after acquiring an additional 416,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,362,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,358,334,000 after buying an additional 412,281 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.0%

BX opened at $118.58 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $117.74 and a 200-day moving average of $133.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The company has a market capitalization of $88.09 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. HSBC lowered their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.05.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the sale, the insider owned 899,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,169,363.51. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 2,868,069 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $75,000,004.35. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 18,628,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $487,129,914.25. The trade was a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 13,502,092 shares of company stock worth $294,789,896 and have sold 9,128,660 shares worth $46,457,920. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone

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.