Claro Advisors LLC Grows Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Claro Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,875 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 459 shares during the period. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $772,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 86.2% during the 4th quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 763.0% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 233 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $122.23 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.35 billion, a PE ratio of 43.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $122.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.53. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $88.59 and a one year 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 0.79.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.33% and a net margin of 20.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 117.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Blackstone from $144.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 19th. 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 report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $125.00 target price (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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $119.48 per share, with a total value of $26,166.12. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.