BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Purchases 115,346 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 345.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 148,776 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 115,346 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises 0.5% of BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $22,932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $30,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Blackstone from $156.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research cut Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Argus reduced their target price on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Blackstone from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.05.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $117.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $118.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $132.41. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.67%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,169,363.51. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 2,868,069 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $75,000,004.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 18,628,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $487,129,914.25. This represents a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 12,355,303 shares of company stock valued at $264,789,896. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone 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.