Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stock Holdings Lifted by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 84.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 169,621 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,448 shares during the quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $23,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.00 per share, with a total value 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 represents a 24,898.76% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BX shares. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Bank of America decreased their target price on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.65.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $143.62 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $137.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $153.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $104.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

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.