Alpine Bank Wealth Management Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,878 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $143.62 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $137.88 and its 200 day moving average is $153.16. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $104.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.26, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its 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 net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 112.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Barclays raised 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Ten equities research 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

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

Blackstone Company 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.