Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC Acquires Shares of 10,151 Blackstone Inc. $BX

Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 10,151 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,195,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,112,162,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,275,747,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $514,736,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Blackstone by 99.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $983,690,000 after acquiring an additional 3,178,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at $270,380,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $143.56 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $107.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a 50-day moving average of $128.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.57.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 was Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change 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 115.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 573,614 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $15,000,006.10. Following the purchase, the insider owned 8,455,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $221,118,071.70. This trade represents a 7.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $1,379,685.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by 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.