Independence Bank of Kentucky Buys 2,135 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 281.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,894 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,135 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $380,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 30.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,091,903 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,652,526,000 after purchasing an additional 14,396,655 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $708,859,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $4,744,370,000 after acquiring an additional 3,597,828 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $290,514,000. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $123.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $88.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.50. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.59 and a 1-year high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 117.31%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,115,488.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Bank of America decreased 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.65.

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.