SOL Capital Management CO Has $13.21 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

SOL Capital Management CO raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 94,480 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,927 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up 1.5% of SOL Capital Management CO’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. SOL Capital Management CO’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $13,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Blackstone Stock Down 0.3%

BX opened at $143.62 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.65. The business has a 50 day moving average of $137.88 and a 200-day moving average of $153.16.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 19.84%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 112.05%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This 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 corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BX shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $155.65.

Blackstone 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.