Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Has $41.35 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 268,256 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,715 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $41,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Redwood Financial Network Corp raised its position in Blackstone by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,748 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,335 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivium Point Advisory LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Barclays lowered their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. HSBC reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $156.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Argus reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.36.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.1%

BX stock opened at $117.96 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $87.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.63. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $117.10 and a 200-day moving average of $134.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 2,868,069 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $75,000,004.35. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 18,628,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $487,129,914.25. This trade represents a 18.20% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total value of $475,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 125,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,375,000. This trade represents a 16.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 4,015,297 shares of company stock worth $105,053,996 and have sold 9,128,660 shares worth $46,457,920. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.