Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Acquired by J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc.

J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 74.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 313,105 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 133,383 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises about 3.2% of J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $36,004,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Family CFO Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $115.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $85.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.59. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $120.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.22.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on BX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. HSBC dropped their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Citizens Jmp decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.86.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 765,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,882,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,039,270.30. This trade represents a 10.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Blackstone

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.