Harvest Investment Advisors LLC Takes Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Harvest Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 15,594 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,404,000. Blackstone makes up about 1.4% of Harvest Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Financial Network Corp raised its holdings in Blackstone by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $537,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,748 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,194,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,686,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Trivium Point Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management raised its holdings in Blackstone by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone bought 9,486,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. The trade was a -2,529.85% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have bought 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.86.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $127.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $95.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.59. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $120.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.70.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 118.67%.

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.