NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Boosts Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 17.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 30,254 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,602 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $35,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 1,146,789 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.16 per share, for a total transaction of $30,000,000.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 16,716,249 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $437,297,073.84. This trade represents a 7.37% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at $90,670.32. This represents a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $158.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.86.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX opened at $110.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $130.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $148.21. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.94 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.80.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.69 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $1.49 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 153.61%.

Blackstone Company 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.