Financial Enhancement Group LLC Acquires 7,893 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Financial Enhancement Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 39.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,731 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 7,893 shares during the quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jain Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $9,116,000. Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% during the third quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 1,270,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $217,083,000 after buying an additional 24,237 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 20.4% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 840,401 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $143,582,000 after acquiring an additional 142,479 shares in the last quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of 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, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 904,237 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $154,489,000 after purchasing an additional 18,339 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BX. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. HSBC dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.86.

Blackstone Stock Down 6.0%

BX opened at $112.90 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $121.16 and a 200-day moving average of $129.59. The company has a market capitalization of $83.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.59. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly 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. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 41,818 shares in the company, valued at $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was 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 owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Profile

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.