Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Purchased by Natixis

Natixis increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 111.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,310 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 28,103 shares during the quarter. Natixis' holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 214.2% during the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,845,000 after buying an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $10,053,000 after acquiring an additional 4,688 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $139,302,000 after purchasing an additional 51,897 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 301 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX traded down $1.75 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $132.80. 4,655,664 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,783,731. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $164.09. The company has a market capitalization of $96.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.58, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.22 by ($0.13). Blackstone had a net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on BX. TD Cowen cut their price target on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $154.82.

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.