Valley National Advisers Inc. Purchases 142 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,321 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,538,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 763.0% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.2 %

BX stock traded up $0.19 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $123.40. 2,102,444 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,471,180. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $122.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.60, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.50. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.59 and a 52-week high of $133.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 117.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Argus boosted their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.65.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Profile

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.