Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Has $16.56 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 126,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 699 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $16,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,652,526,000 after buying an additional 14,396,655 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Blackstone by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,495,670 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,668,954,000 after buying an additional 798,734 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,157,334 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,419,249,000 after purchasing an additional 332,962 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 13.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,825,769 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,588,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,744,652 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 7.1% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,925,167 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $695,952,000 after purchasing an additional 522,561 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 34,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,349,313. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total transaction of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock worth $37,816,476. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $120.28 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $126.66 and a 200 day moving average of $117.66. The stock has a market cap of $85.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $79.92 and a 12 month high of $133.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.02). Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 17.34%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 205.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on BX. TD Cowen began coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $118.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lowered Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Blackstone from $146.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.97.

Blackstone 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.