Spire Wealth Management Acquires 1,220 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,134 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,220 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Blackstone by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,970,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 8,110 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,398,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,469,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $697,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,460,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. The trade was a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director now owns 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.65.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $143.62 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.65. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $153.16. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.05%.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.