Cibc World Market Inc. Purchases Shares of 206,094 Blackstone Inc. $BX

Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 206,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $24,251,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 100,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,561,000 after purchasing an additional 8,321 shares during the period. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter worth $1,340,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after buying an additional 840,258 shares during the last quarter. Marble Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $7,303,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in Blackstone by 92.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 807,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $92,817,000 after acquiring an additional 387,109 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $143.56 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $107.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the business’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 value of $1,379,685.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,359,783.04. The trade was a 12.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 573,614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $15,000,006.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 8,455,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $221,118,071.70. The trade was a 7.28% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on BX. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.95.

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.