Blackstone Inc. $BX Stock Holdings Lifted by Tranquility Partners LLC

Tranquility Partners LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 14.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 92,292 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 11,551 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up 4.0% of Tranquility Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Tranquility Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $10,663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jain Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $9,116,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 1,270,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $217,083,000 after purchasing an additional 24,237 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 142,479 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd raised its position in Blackstone by 16,035.1% during the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $194,746,000 after buying an additional 1,133,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in 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 period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BX. Argus reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. HSBC cut their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citizens Jmp decreased their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.86.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the acquisition, the director owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 9,487,234 shares of company stock worth $189,789,892 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 2.5%

BX stock opened at $120.12 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week 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 firm has a market cap of $89.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.72, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.59. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.86.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given 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 3.9%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.