O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Has $5.41 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 23.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,149 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,890 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 52,530 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,628,000 after buying an additional 2,069 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 5,915 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $774,000 after buying an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $245,000. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,529 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,950,000 after buying an additional 665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $220,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Blackstone stock traded up $2.44 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $143.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,605,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,545,902. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.59 and a 52 week high of $145.16. The stock has a market cap of $102.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $124.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 117.31%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on BX. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.56.

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.