First National Trust Co Grows Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

First National Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,721 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 565 shares during the quarter. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 763.0% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $1.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $117.99. 4,437,459 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,497,968. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.79. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.92 and a 52-week high of $133.56. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.85. The firm has a market cap of $84.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.69, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.52.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 117.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,349,313. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Blackstone from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.65.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.