Focused Wealth Management Inc Has $6.92 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Focused Wealth Management Inc boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,467 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for approximately 0.9% of Focused Wealth Management Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Focused Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,915,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BX. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter worth $28,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth $36,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $161.29.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $162.21 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share 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 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Insider Activity

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

About Blackstone

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.