Commerce Bank Invests $15.18 Million in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Commerce Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 129,014 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $15,181,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the second quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management raised its stake in Blackstone by 2.1% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $496,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Founders Financial Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.6%

BX opened at $143.56 on Friday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $128.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.57. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The stock has a market cap of $107.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. 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 Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 12.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 573,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $15,000,006.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 8,455,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $221,118,071.70. This represents a 7.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and have sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.