Latash Investments LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX – Free Report) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 7,774 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $915,000. Blackstone accounts for 0.7% of Latash Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding.
Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 840,258 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $6,112,162,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 636,613 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,861,885,000 after purchasing an additional 179,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Blackstone by 3.4% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 384,264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.
Insider Activity
In related news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and have sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.
Blackstone Trading Up 3.2%
Blackstone (NYSE:BX – Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The company’s revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Blackstone Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.44%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.
View Our Latest Research Report on BX
Blackstone Profile
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.
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