Cross Staff Investments Inc Acquires 243 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Cross Staff Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 42,042 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 243 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises approximately 4.9% of Cross Staff Investments Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Cross Staff Investments Inc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its holdings in Blackstone by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 121,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $13,002,000 after acquiring an additional 7,907 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 5.5% during 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 during the period. Chicago Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,734,000. Kampmann Melissa S. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,314,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in Blackstone by 1,722.9% in the 3rd 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 during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $0.14 on Friday, reaching $122.39. 1,688,853 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,668,169. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $79.92 and a 1-year 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $126.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.46 billion, a PE ratio of 43.53, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued 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. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 132.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Argus raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer cut shares of Blackstone from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TheStreet cut shares of Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.65.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 232 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,349,313. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 49,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.93, for a total transaction of $6,268,570.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 393,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,294,783.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476 over the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Blackstone

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.