Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Grows Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. increased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 61.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,361 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 11,937 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,606,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the second quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $1,194,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings 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 period. Trivium Point Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at $182,236,000. This trade represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at $5,145,286.72. This represents a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $124.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $92.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.29.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BX. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.52.

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.