6,560 Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX Purchased by Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc.

Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,560 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $772,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.43.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.7%

Blackstone stock 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 stock has a market cap of $107.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.91, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $130.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

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 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 business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued 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 payout ratio is currently 115.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone bought 272,642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $7,126,861.88. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 8,704,419 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $4,066,500.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 869,669 shares of the company’s stock, 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 quarter, insiders acquired 1,611,822 shares of company stock valued at $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.