Focused Wealth Management Inc Boosts Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Focused Wealth Management Inc raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 9.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 55,800 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 5,038 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up approximately 0.7% of Focused Wealth Management Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Focused Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $983,690,000 after buying an additional 3,178,133 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Blackstone by 85.6% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,709,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $417,620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,249,269 shares during the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in Blackstone by 16,035.1% in the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $194,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,197 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Blackstone by 476.1% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,324,168 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $204,193,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,307 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BX. HSBC lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered Blackstone from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Barclays cut their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.86.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $120.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $121.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $129.86. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.Blackstone’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.67%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 9,487,234 shares of company stock valued at $189,789,892. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.