Zacks Investment Management Buys 2,316 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Zacks Investment Management grew its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 140.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,961 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 2,316 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management's holdings in Blackstone were worth $683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 16,184 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,790,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.5% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,019 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,970,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,687 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 11,035 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,903,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $153.72.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock traded up $7.63 during trading on Thursday, reaching $134.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,575,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,749,658. The company has a market capitalization of $98.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company's fifty day moving average is $142.84 and its 200-day moving average is $164.19.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 28th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,071,260.65. The trade was a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.