Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Acquired by Meitav Investment House Ltd.

Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 14.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 421,630 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 54,385 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $48,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. 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 valued at $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its stake in Blackstone by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,703,000 after acquiring an additional 8,655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.5%

NYSE:BX traded down $3.07 on Tuesday, hitting $120.35. 1,161,213 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,942,184. The company has a market cap of $89.41 billion, a PE ratio of 30.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $119.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $127.87. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released 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 business had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Blackstone from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Argus reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the purchase, the director owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. This trade represents a 0.86% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.