Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Has $27.28 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 208,399 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $27,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 86.2% in the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 763.0% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 232 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $127.08 per share, with a total value of $29,482.56. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 34,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,349,313. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 2,509,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.10, for a total value of $27,853,407.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $142,102.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 232 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $127.08 per share, for a total transaction of $29,482.56. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 34,225 shares in the company, valued at $4,349,313. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,587,168 shares of company stock valued at $37,816,476. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $95.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.65.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $0.92 during trading on Friday, reaching $122.44. 2,962,411 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,686,269. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.92 and a 52-week high of $133.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $125.96 and a 200-day moving average of $118.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 will be paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 132.86%.

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.