Greenleaf Trust Grows Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 31.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,088 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 742 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 14,396,655 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 13,816.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,623,868 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,744,370,000 after acquiring an additional 3,597,828 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 255.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,698,085 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $289,073,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $190,920,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $124.22 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.92 and a fifty-two week high of $133.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $126.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.20. The company has a market cap of $88.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.89, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The company’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 132.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 232 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at $4,349,313. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 232 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,349,313. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BX shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective (down from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.94.

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.