Carret Asset Management LLC Grows Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Carret Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 20.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,050 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,128,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 30.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,652,526,000 after acquiring an additional 14,396,655 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $708,859,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 13,816.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,623,868 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,744,370,000 after buying an additional 3,597,828 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $290,514,000. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its position in Blackstone by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,738,986 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,417,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367,581 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Blackstone stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $123.40. 2,097,862 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,471,143. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.59 and a 52-week high of $133.56. The company has a fifty day moving average of $122.35 and a 200-day moving average of $124.45.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.31%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 219 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,115,488.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BX. Bank of America decreased their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.65.

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.