Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Takes Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,941 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $335,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $316,257,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $239,837,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,533,972,000 after buying an additional 889,286 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,990,238 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $515,577,000 after acquiring an additional 835,170 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone bought 1,660,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,000,005. This represents a 24,898.76 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 1,660,538 shares of company stock worth $24,981,930 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $139.41 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $101.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.40, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $136.87 and its 200-day moving average is $162.24.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 112.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.82.

Blackstone Company 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.