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

Eagle Ridge Investment Management acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,900 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the firm’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 completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $2.18 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $120.31. 1,246,517 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,655,658. The company 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.79. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $79.92 and a one year high of $133.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $125.96 and a 200 day moving average of $118.57.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 117.31%.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.