GSA Capital Partners LLP Buys 27,966 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 723.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,834 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 27,966 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises about 0.4% of GSA Capital Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. GSA Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. TCTC Holdings LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 239.4% in the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 39,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,549,000 after buying an additional 28,000 shares in the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 5.4% during the first quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 10,292 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,342,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 118.1% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 410 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 7.1% during the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 19,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,689,000 after purchasing an additional 1,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth about $1,641,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $176.82 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $149.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.43. The company has a market cap of $129.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.53, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 37,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone acquired 1,660,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. The trade was a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 2,849,769 shares of company stock worth $54,932,307. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday. JMP Securities raised their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.12.

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.