Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Bought by Torray Investment Partners LLC

Torray Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,962 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Torray Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of BX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $708,859,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 7.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after buying an additional 2,546,886 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $290,514,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 19,048.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,883,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $247,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290,324 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $1.15 on Friday, reaching $137.12. 2,577,891 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,467,962. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $134.22 and its 200-day moving average is $127.67. The firm has a market cap of $97.99 billion, a PE ratio of 48.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.50. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $88.59 and a one year high of $145.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BX. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America raised their price target on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.94.

Blackstone Company 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.