Compass Wealth Management LLC Invests $4.54 Million in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 38,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $4,538,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,112,162,000. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during 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 buying an additional 179,213 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Blackstone by 3.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,538,067 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,326,762,000 after buying an additional 384,264 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $140.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $105.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.41. 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 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its 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 net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.44%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total value of $6,619,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 516,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,911,260.87. This trade represents a 8.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value of $28,264,950.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.