MCF Advisors LLC Grows Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1,200.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the quarter. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $170,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 7.0% in the third quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 121,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $13,002,000 after buying an additional 7,907 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Blackstone by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 303,069 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,348,000 after purchasing an additional 15,875 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,734,000. Kampmann Melissa S. purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter worth $2,314,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Blackstone by 1,722.9% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 504,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $54,046,000 after buying an additional 476,768 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE:BX traded up $1.49 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $119.89. 518,691 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,685,079. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.94. The company has a market capitalization of $85.68 billion, a PE ratio of 41.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.92 and a fifty-two week high of $133.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 132.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. TheStreet cut Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Reginald J. Brown acquired 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $125.62 per share, with a total value of $301,488.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 16,949 shares in the company, valued at $2,129,133.38. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.