107,490 Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX Purchased by Equitable Holdings Inc.

Equitable Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 107,490 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $12,648,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Redwood Financial Network Corp increased its holdings in Blackstone by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Brogan Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on BX shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Blackstone from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Blackstone to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $149.43.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $143.62 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $130.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.78. The company has a market capitalization of $107.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 371 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $137.17 per share, with a total value of $50,890.07. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 42,189 shares in the company, valued at $5,787,065.13. This trade represents a 0.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $4,066,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 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 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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