Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC Increases Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,684 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lifted its position in Blackstone by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 3,320 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 2,592 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $667,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,776 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 534 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX opened at $127.71 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.06 and a 1 year high of $133.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.27 billion, a PE ratio of 45.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average is $124.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,115,488.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. TheStreet downgraded Blackstone from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.65.

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.