Portside Wealth Group LLC Makes New $183,000 Investment in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,310 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $183,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,109,000. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,102,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,747,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after acquiring an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 approximately $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.9%

BX opened at $140.42 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $135.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.65. The company has a market capitalization of $102.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid 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 presently 112.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.65.

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.