Tidal Investments LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 66.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 27,996 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 11,202 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,827,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BX. Trace Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $431,000. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. grew its position in Blackstone by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 13,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares during the period. SurgoCap Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. SurgoCap Partners LP now owns 961,828 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $165,838,000 after buying an additional 161,284 shares during the period. Shay Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $207,000. Finally, SGL Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $233,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 37,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.9%

Blackstone stock opened at $144.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $137.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.16. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $105.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.70, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BX shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective 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. TD Cowen cut their price target on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.