48,863 Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX Bought by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 48,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $7,251,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redwood Financial Network Corp increased its holdings in Blackstone by 1.8% during the second quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $537,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,748 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,194,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 0.8% during the third quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,335 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,424,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,686,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivium Point Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $114.23 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $119.31 and a 200-day moving average of $131.52. The stock has a market cap of $84.86 billion, a PE ratio of 29.22, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.59. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors 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 yield of 4.1%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $138.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,236,000. This trade represents a -2,529.85% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,169,363.51. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have purchased a total of 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.