Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC Makes New $1.11 Million Investment in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,457 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,113,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 18,769 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 4,806 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $829,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 3,861 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $666,000 after buying an additional 1,420 shares during the period. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 238.8% during the 4th quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 29,875 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,151,000 after acquiring an additional 21,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $880,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on BX shares. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.82.

Blackstone Stock Down 4.6%

BX stock opened at $137.53 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $137.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $160.99. 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 current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its 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). The business had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 20.99%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th were given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.05%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 475,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 37,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.