GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 4,838 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,191 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 4,838 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $310,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 14.7% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,703,000 after purchasing an additional 8,655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.9%

BX stock opened at $133.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $99.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $123.07 and its 200-day moving average is $122.95. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results 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. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Citizens Jmp reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares in the company, valued at $182,236,000. The trade was a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders acquired 10,825,959 shares of company stock worth $224,789,900. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.