Confluence Investment Management LLC Invests $1.45 Million in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,445,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its holdings in Blackstone by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 36,215 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,741,000 after purchasing an additional 9,699 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 367,841 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $48,158,000 after acquiring an additional 28,856 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 254,099 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,267,000 after acquiring an additional 20,830 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $855,000. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 303,069 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,348,000 after acquiring an additional 15,875 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 219 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded up $0.70 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $122.86. 775,883 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,514,129. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $122.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $123.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.41, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $87.40 and a one year high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The company’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on BX. Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $125.00 target price (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, April 19th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Argus boosted their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.65.

Blackstone Company 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.