Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Bought by Krilogy Financial LLC

Krilogy Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 27.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 31,662 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 6,792 shares during the period. Krilogy Financial LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Kennebec Savings Bank increased its position in Blackstone by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank now owns 7,271 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $836,000 after buying an additional 2,158 shares in the last quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the first quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,256 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $719,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the first quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,943 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,000 after purchasing an additional 946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PMG Family Office LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. PMG Family Office LLC now owns 3,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $120.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $89.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $121.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.86. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced 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 for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This trade represents a -2,529.85% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. This trade represents a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 9,487,234 shares of company stock valued at $189,789,892. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on BX. Zacks Research raised shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.86.

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.