Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Major Shareholder Acquires $20,000,001.54 in Stock

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 765,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,039,270.30. The trade was a 10.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $115.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $85.92 billion, a PE ratio of 29.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.59. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $120.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $129.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after acquiring an additional 840,258 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% during 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 grew its stake in Blackstone by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after purchasing an additional 179,213 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.4% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,275,747,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BX. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. HSBC decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $131.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.86.

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.