Evolve Private Wealth LLC Buys 10,903 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Evolve Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 138.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 18,802 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 10,903 shares during the quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $983,690,000 after acquiring an additional 3,178,133 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 85.6% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,709,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $417,620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249,269 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $194,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Blackstone by 476.1% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,324,168 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $204,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,307 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. HSBC cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $150.86.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value of $28,264,950.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,233.72. This trade represents a 99.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 9,487,234 shares of company stock worth $189,789,892. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $123.18 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $91.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $121.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.08. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 118.67%.

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.