Apella Capital LLC Has $1.87 Million Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Apella Capital LLC grew its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 38.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,280 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,521 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth $30,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BX. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $150.86.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the company’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 owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at $113,169,363.51. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 765,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $20,000,001.54. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $206,039,270.30. This represents a 10.75% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $115.66 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The business has a fifty day moving average of $120.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.22. The stock has a market cap of $85.92 billion, a PE ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.11 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

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

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.