Wedmont Private Capital Buys 5,069 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 66.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,069 shares during the quarter. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kintra Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kintra Wealth LLC now owns 8,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,596 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 18.8% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 50,885 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,988,000 after purchasing an additional 8,047 shares during the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 5.6% during the second quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 90.6% in the second quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 51,953 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,113,000 after buying an additional 24,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC now owns 3,679 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the business’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 value of $4,066,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 371 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $137.17 per share, with a total value of $50,890.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the director 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 disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $136.07 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $133.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.13. The firm has a market cap of $102.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results 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. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 115.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Citizens Jmp cut their price target on Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.43.

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.