Winthrop Partners WNY LLC Invests $1.04 Million in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Winthrop Partners WNY LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 6,759 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,042,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BX. Jain Global LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $9,116,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co grew its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% in the third quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 1,270,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $217,083,000 after purchasing an additional 24,237 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 20.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 840,401 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $143,582,000 after acquiring an additional 142,479 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $194,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 904,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $154,489,000 after acquiring an additional 18,339 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.86.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX opened at $123.78 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $91.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.35.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued 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 company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders bought 9,487,234 shares of company stock valued at $189,789,892. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.