Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Acquired by Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management

Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management grew its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 74,415 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 2,538 shares during the quarter. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $12,831,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BX. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,102,000. Highland Capital Management LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 214.2% in the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 22,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,845,000 after buying an additional 15,205 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 58,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,053,000 after buying an additional 4,688 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Blackstone by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,894,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,533,972,000 after buying an additional 889,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 909,698 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $139,302,000 after acquiring an additional 51,897 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.3 %

BX stock opened at $132.80 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $141.56 and its 200-day moving average is $163.98. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The firm has a market cap of $96.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 28th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $164.85 per share, with a total value of $49,619.85. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,829 shares in the company, valued at $6,071,260.65. This represents a 0.82 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Blackstone from $190.00 to $137.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $160.00 to $139.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.82.

About Blackstone

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.