Howland Capital Management LLC Has $12.79 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Howland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 50.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,004 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,989 shares during the quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $12,794,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,703,000 after purchasing an additional 8,655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Zacks Research raised Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Barclays reduced their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.86.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $122.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $119.98 and a 200-day moving average of $131.03. The company has a market cap of $91.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This trade represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. This trade represents a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired a total of 12,355,303 shares of company stock worth $264,789,896 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.