Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone Purchases 272,642 Shares of Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Stock

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone bought 272,642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $7,126,861.88. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,704,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,533,512.66. This trade represents a 3.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $143.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $129.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.57. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. 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 has a market capitalization of $107.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share 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. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.44%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Blackstone by 12,011.3% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 130,414,132 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,345,831,000 after acquiring an additional 129,337,339 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,112,162,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Blackstone by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after buying an additional 179,213 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

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.