Abel Hall LLC Buys 6,779 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Abel Hall LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 273.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,257 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,779 shares during the quarter. Abel Hall LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Family CFO Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 765,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,039,270.30. The trade was a 10.75% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Blackstone from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 24th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.36.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.0%

BX stock opened at $122.73 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $91.17 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $119.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.87.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Blackstone’s 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.