IFM Investors Pty Ltd Acquires 5,537 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 143,467 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,537 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $16,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. United Bank grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,703,000 after buying an additional 8,655 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 899,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,169,363.51. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. This trade represents a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Citizens Jmp cut their price target on Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.36.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $119.55 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business’s 50 day moving average is $119.94 and its 200-day moving average is $128.26. The stock has a market cap of $88.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.67%.

About Blackstone

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.