Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Buys New Shares in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 1,829 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $315,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $239,837,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 38.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,990,238 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $515,577,000 after acquiring an additional 835,170 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $146.69 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $107.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The company’s fifty day moving average is $137.25 and its 200 day moving average is $161.43.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.54%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 475,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 1,660,538 shares of company stock valued at $24,981,930. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citizens Jmp upgraded Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.82.

About Blackstone

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.