Focus Partners Wealth Buys 1,094,307 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 476.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,324,168 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,094,307 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth owned approximately 0.18% of Blackstone worth $204,193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Redwood Financial Network Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the second quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $537,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,748 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 0.8% during the third quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,335 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Trivium Point Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.86.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of BX stock opened at $122.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $119.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.03. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The firm has a market cap of $91.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 118.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone bought 9,486,795 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,236,000. The trade was a -2,529.85% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the purchase, the director owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have purchased a total of 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.