Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stake Boosted by UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 19.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,109,020 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 678,111 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $708,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 18,769 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,236,000 after buying an additional 1,214 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 3,265 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 11,629 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,005,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Blackstone by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 4,806 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $829,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 475,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $144.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $105.14 billion, a PE ratio of 39.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.16. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results 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 analyst estimates 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 earned $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 112.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.82.

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.