Benjamin Edwards Inc. Raises Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 63.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,330 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,776 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its position in Blackstone by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 534 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 86.2% in the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business’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 transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 232 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $127.08 per share, with a total value of $29,482.56. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:BX traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $117.99. 4,437,459 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,497,968. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $125.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.76. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $79.92 and a one year high of $133.56. The company has a market cap of $84.32 billion, a PE ratio of 41.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 117.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on BX. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 price target (down from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, April 19th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TheStreet lowered Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.65.

Blackstone 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.