Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 15,567 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,832,000.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Barclays upped their price target on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.95.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 371 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $137.17 per share, with a total value of $50,890.07. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 42,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,787,065.13. This represents a 0.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,359,783.04. This trade represents a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders bought 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 owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $143.56 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The firm has a market cap of $107.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $128.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.44. 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 (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 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 business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 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.