Occidental Asset Management LLC Invests $2.46 Million in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Occidental Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 20,932 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,463,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $11,046,859,000 after buying an additional 840,258 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Blackstone by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,065,374,000 after acquiring an additional 636,613 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted 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 acquiring an additional 179,213 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,538,067 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,326,762,000 after purchasing an additional 384,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,275,747,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 765,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $20,000,001.54. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $206,039,270.30. This represents a 10.75% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total transaction of $1,379,685.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,359,783.04. The trade was a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Citizens Jmp lowered 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. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, July 20th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $140.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $127.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.45. The company has a market cap of $105.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm’s revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 115.44%.

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.