ARS Investment Partners LLC Increases Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

ARS Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 21.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 244,206 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 43,568 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises 2.2% of ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $37,642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in 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 raised its stake in Blackstone by 14.7% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,703,000 after purchasing an additional 8,655 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $117.96 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $117.10 and a 200-day moving average of $134.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.17, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors 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 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This trade represents a 99.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.00, for a total transaction of $475,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 125,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,375,000. The trade was a 16.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 4,015,297 shares of company stock worth $105,053,996 and sold 9,128,660 shares worth $46,457,920. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Oppenheimer increased 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. Citizens Jmp dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.36.

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.