Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. Has $1.18 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,005 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 801 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up about 1.1% of Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 763.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,115,488.60. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $0.18 during trading on Thursday, reaching $123.98. The company had a trading volume of 718,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,475,213. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $122.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.35. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.59 and a 52 week high of $133.56. The stock has a market cap of $88.60 billion, a PE ratio of 43.74, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The firm’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 117.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 price target (down from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, April 19th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.65.

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.