Latash Investments LLC Purchases Shares of 7,774 Blackstone Inc. $BX

Latash Investments LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 7,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $915,000. Blackstone accounts for approximately 0.7% of Latash Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,046,859,000 after acquiring an additional 840,258 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,112,162,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Blackstone by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 636,613 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,861,885,000 after purchasing an additional 179,213 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,538,067 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,326,762,000 after buying an additional 384,264 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Thirteen research 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, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Stock Up 3.2%

BX opened at $145.15 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $108.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.47, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $127.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.43. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.44%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total value of $6,619,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 516,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,911,260.87. The trade was a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $4,066,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 869,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, 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. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.