9,229 Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX Bought by First National Bank of Omaha

First National Bank of Omaha purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 9,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,060,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Palladiem LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 26,600.0% during the 2nd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 267 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $4,066,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,883,632.95. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total transaction of $1,379,685.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. The trade was a 12.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and have sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $145.15 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.43. The firm has a market cap of $108.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.44%.

Blackstone Profile

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.