29,446 Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX Purchased by Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 29,446 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $3,465,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:BX opened at $143.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The stock has a market cap 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. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.57.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $4,066,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone purchased 272,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 purchase, the insider owned 8,704,419 shares in the company, valued at $227,533,512.66. This trade represents a 3.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and have sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Thirteen 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.