SCS Capital Management LLC Takes $6.05 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

SCS Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 51,443 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $6,053,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Palladiem LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Argus boosted their price target on Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.95.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total transaction of $6,619,950.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 516,017 shares in the company, valued at $75,911,260.87. The trade was a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.0%

BX opened at $143.94 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $108.04 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.Blackstone’s revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 115.44%.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.