Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Purchased by Provence Wealth Management Group

Provence Wealth Management Group raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 466.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,913 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,575 shares during the quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 25,804 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,765,000 after acquiring an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 28,221 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,024,000 after buying an additional 1,652 shares in the last quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 5,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $602,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.6% during the third quarter. Vantage Investment Partners LLC now owns 134,838 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $14,447,000 after purchasing an additional 3,386 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Veracity Capital LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 2,857 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BX. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.65.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE BX traded down $1.00 on Friday, reaching $117.99. The stock had a trading volume of 4,437,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,497,968. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.92 and a 12-month high of $133.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $125.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $118.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 117.31%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 232 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $127.08 per share, with a total value of $29,482.56. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at $4,349,313. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.