Gabelli Funds LLC Acquires 3,925 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BXFree Report) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 159,193 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,925 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $18,306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BX. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. This represents a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 765,111 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $20,000,001.54. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at $206,039,270.30. This trade represents a 10.75% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Barclays raised their price target on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.76.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Blackstone

Trending Headlines about Blackstone

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone this week:

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $129.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $96.36 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $120.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.84. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BXGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a $1.29 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 103.80%.

Blackstone Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BXFree Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Blackstone (NYSE:BX)

Receive News & Ratings for Blackstone Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Blackstone and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.