Fragasso Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Fragasso Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the quarter. Fragasso Group Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,972,648 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,244,379,000 after purchasing an additional 880,745 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 33,738,986 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,417,140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,367,581 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 43.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,877,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $736,833,000 after buying an additional 2,098,150 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,429,749 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $841,783,000 after buying an additional 322,860 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $708,859,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. 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. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Blackstone from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $125.00 price target (down previously from $129.00) on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.65.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE BX opened at $123.93 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $122.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.04. The company has a market capitalization of $88.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.40 and a 52 week high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly 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. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 117.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.