PeakShares LLC Invests $1.01 Million in Blackstone Inc. $BX

PeakShares LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 6,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,006,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BX. Jain Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,116,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 1,270,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $217,083,000 after acquiring an additional 24,237 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 20.4% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 840,401 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $143,582,000 after purchasing an additional 142,479 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 904,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $154,489,000 after purchasing an additional 18,339 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $123.78 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.66, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $121.11 and its 200 day moving average is $130.35.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. 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 yield of 3.7%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 118.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. This represents a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have acquired 9,487,234 shares of company stock worth $189,789,892 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays reduced 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, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.86.

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.