Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Bought by Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,397 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 25,804 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,765,000 after purchasing an additional 2,427 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in Blackstone by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 125,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,473,000 after acquiring an additional 3,159 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Blackstone by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 182,545 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $18,842,000 after acquiring an additional 47,097 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 49.4% during the third quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 2,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 952 shares during the period. Finally, Shufro Rose & Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on BX shares. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 price target (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, April 19th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Argus boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Blackstone from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,294,783.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.7 %

Blackstone stock opened at $121.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.25. The company has a market capitalization of $86.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.83, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.52. 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 fifty-two week low of $80.05 and a fifty-two week high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th were given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.31%.

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.