Clark Capital Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,941 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $335,000.
Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone by 6.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $139,302,000 after acquiring an additional 51,897 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 232.1% during the fourth quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 279 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 14,278 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $249,000. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 156,545 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $26,991,000 after purchasing an additional 9,858 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 1,660,538 shares of company stock worth $24,981,930 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Blackstone Stock Up 0.2%
BX stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $147.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,757,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,598,591. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The company's 50 day moving average is $137.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.71. The company has a market capitalization of $107.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.
Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 112.05%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays boosted their target price 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. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $154.82.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Blackstone
Blackstone Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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