DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Grows Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,195,551 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 144,926 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for about 0.9% of DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $895,817,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $974,448,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $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. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 889,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 835,170 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $134.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $97.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The business has a fifty day moving average of $137.96 and a 200-day moving average of $162.87. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released 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 net margin of 20.99% and a return on equity of 19.58%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $164.85 per share, for a total transaction of $49,619.85. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 36,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,071,260.65. This trade represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.00 per share, for a total transaction of $24,900,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 1,666,667 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have purchased a total of 1,660,538 shares of company stock worth $24,981,930 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Blackstone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen dropped their price objective 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 upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $129.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Ten 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.82.

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.