Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Major Shareholder Purchases $7,126,861.88 in Stock

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone bought 272,642 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $7,126,861.88. Following the purchase, the insider owned 8,704,419 shares in the company, valued at $227,533,512.66. This trade represents a 3.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of BX opened at $143.25 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The stock has a market cap of $107.53 billion, a PE ratio of 32.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.44%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Blackstone by 12,011.3% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 130,414,132 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,345,831,000 after acquiring an additional 129,337,339 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,112,162,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,065,374,000 after buying an additional 636,613 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,861,885,000 after buying an additional 179,213 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Company 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.