Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Acquires 174 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,931 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,652,526,000 after buying an additional 14,396,655 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $708,859,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 13,816.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,597,828 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $290,514,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 43.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,877,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $736,833,000 after buying an additional 2,098,150 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX opened at $124.66 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.98. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.40 and a 12-month high of $133.56. The company has a market capitalization of $89.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.05, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.53. 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 (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 117.31%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,115,488.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Barclays restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 price target (down from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus 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.