Act Two Investors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Act Two Investors LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 51,368 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,416 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for approximately 1.5% of Act Two Investors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Act Two Investors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,725,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $855,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 303,069 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,348,000 after buying an additional 15,875 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $3,734,000. Kampmann Melissa S. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,314,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1,722.9% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 504,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $54,046,000 after buying an additional 476,768 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective (down from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.65.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $123.64. The stock had a trading volume of 1,815,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,463,357. The company has a market cap of $88.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $124.85 and a 200 day moving average of $122.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.94 and a 1 year high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.98. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.31%.

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.