Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Bought by Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 32.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,567 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 4,989 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 30.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,652,526,000 after purchasing an additional 14,396,655 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 13,816.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,623,868 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,744,370,000 after buying an additional 3,597,828 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Blackstone by 43.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,877,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $736,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,098,150 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 255.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,698,085 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $289,073,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $190,920,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $125.00 target price (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.65.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.7 %

BX traded up $3.22 during trading on Monday, hitting $121.21. 3,399,241 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,688,110. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $80.05 and a 1 year high of $133.56. The firm has a market cap of $86.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.52. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $125.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.25.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its 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 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 117.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total value of $3,694,498.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 982,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 232 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,349,313. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 28,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.05, for a total transaction of $3,694,498.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 982,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $125,773,399.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone 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.