IFM Investors Pty Ltd Acquires 5,537 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 143,467 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,537 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $16,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Blackstone by 1.9% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,703,000 after purchasing an additional 8,655 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $119.55 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $119.94 and its 200-day moving average is $128.26. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The company has a market capitalization of $88.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 765,111 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $20,000,001.54. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 7,882,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,039,270.30. The trade was a 10.75% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. This trade represents a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.36.

Blackstone 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.