Blackstone (NYSE:BX) CAO Sells $1,379,685.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Blackstone CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares at an average price of $145.23, generating $1.38 million and reducing his direct stake by 12.85% to 64,448 shares.
• Blackstone reported a strong quarter, with EPS of $1.52 beating estimates of $1.34 and revenue rising 35.9% year over year to $5.04 billion.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $1.29 per share, equivalent to $5.16 annually and a 3.5% yield; analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of Blackstone 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 64,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. The trade was a 12.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $0.46 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $146.71. 4,177,123 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,627,463. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.61. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $108.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.82, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $1.29 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. 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 3.5%. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 115.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BX. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Blackstone to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $147.95.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $6,112,162,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $1,275,747,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $514,736,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $983,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,178,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $270,380,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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