Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Makes New $5.47 Million Investment in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 41,664 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $5,473,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. 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 buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,115,488.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus increased 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. lowered their target price on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 19th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Blackstone from $141.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX traded up $2.71 during trading on Friday, hitting $129.32. 3,390,893 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,300,576. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $122.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.14. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $133.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $92.42 billion, a PE ratio of 45.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.50.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.31%.

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.