Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 24.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 58,927 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 18,617 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter worth $30,000. Palladiem LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 26,600.0% during the 2nd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 267 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $133.89 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $133.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $100.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 115.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $137.17 per share, with a total value of $50,890.07. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 42,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,787,065.13. The trade was a 0.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $4,066,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at $117,883,632.95. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Citizens Jmp lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.43.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment management and advisory services to institutions, corporations, and individual investors. The company invests across multiple asset classes, including private equity, real estate, credit, infrastructure, insurance solutions, and hedge fund solutions.

Its investment activities include acquiring and managing businesses, commercial and residential properties, infrastructure assets, and credit investments.