Narwhal Capital Management Has $9.03 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Narwhal Capital Management grew its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 34.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 64,614 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,486 shares during the period. Narwhal Capital Management’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Blackstone by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 11,426 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,970,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 8,110 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,398,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,469,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,460,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $137.45 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $100.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.40, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $137.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.22 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.95 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 19.84% and a net margin of 19.83%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 28th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 112.05%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 475,336 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 37,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $141.00 to $139.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $155.65.

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.