Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stock Holdings Lifted by Randolph Co Inc

Randolph Co Inc increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 319,822 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises 5.2% of Randolph Co Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Randolph Co Inc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $44,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $239,837,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 14,608.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,322,598 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $184,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,313,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $140.68 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $136.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $102.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its 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 analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. On average, analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 112.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays upped their target price on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.65.

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.