Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Acquired by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,296,649 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 162,896 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $160,525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its position in Blackstone by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 36,215 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,741,000 after buying an additional 9,699 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 367,841 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $48,158,000 after acquiring an additional 28,856 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Blackstone by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 254,099 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,267,000 after purchasing an additional 20,830 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 431,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,455,000 after purchasing an additional 7,692 shares during the period. Finally, Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2,072.0% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 36,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,802,000 after buying an additional 34,872 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX opened at $155.07 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.59 and a 1 year high of $156.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $137.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.72. The stock has a market cap of $110.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.80, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on BX shares. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Barclays upped their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. 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 firm’s 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 in the company, valued at $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.