Mangrove Partners IM LLC Takes Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Mangrove Partners IM LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 7,164 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,104,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $983,690,000 after buying an additional 3,178,133 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $194,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,197 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in Blackstone by 476.1% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,324,168 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $204,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 2,868,069 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $75,000,004.35. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 18,628,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $487,129,914.25. The trade was a 18.20% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the acquisition, 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 position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders bought 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Blackstone from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Argus cut their target price on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Barclays cut their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.86.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.6%

Blackstone stock opened at $127.89 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The company has a market capitalization of $95.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $120.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.70.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 118.67%.

About Blackstone

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.