Blackstone Inc. $BX is Highlander Partners L.P.’s 2nd Largest Position

Highlander Partners L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 48.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 244,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 80,000 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up 14.0% of Highlander Partners L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Highlander Partners L.P.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $36,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE BX opened at $144.32 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $106.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.23, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $166.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%.The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 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, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 147.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total value of $104,478,673.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 2,538,071 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.61 per share, for a total transaction of $64,999,998.31. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 7,506,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $192,234,012.49. The trade was a 51.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 2,565,415 shares of company stock worth $69,037,981 and sold 16,875,234 shares worth $136,847,628. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Blackstone from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Blackstone from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.74.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.