Breakwater Capital Group Makes New $215,000 Investment in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Breakwater Capital Group bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,536 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Blackstone by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,970,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,723 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $469,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $140.42 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.68, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on BX. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $182.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Blackstone

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.