IAM Advisory LLC Acquires 168 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

IAM Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,467 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. IAM Advisory LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX traded down $0.22 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $124.20. The company had a trading volume of 2,110,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,497,810. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.35. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.59 and a 12-month high of $133.56. The company has a market capitalization of $88.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.89, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus boosted their target price on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $125.00 price target (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, April 19th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.65.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.