Blackstone Inc. $BX Stock Position Raised by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,770,478 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 5,103 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.24% of Blackstone worth $208,332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,112,162,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% during the 4th 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. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,861,885,000 after acquiring an additional 179,213 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,364,373,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,275,747,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.43.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone bought 272,642 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $7,126,861.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 8,704,419 shares in the company, valued at $227,533,512.66. The trade was a 3.23% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,233.72. This represents a 99.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 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 currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of BX opened at $142.63 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 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 firm has a market capitalization of $107.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.92.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio 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.