Calton & Associates Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Calton & Associates Inc. purchased 1,735 shares of Blackstone Inc. worth approximately $243,000, adding to a trend of institutional investment in the company's stock.
• Blackstone recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders despite a high dividend payout ratio of 110.75%.
• Analysts have maintained a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $172.38, following recent positive earnings results that exceeded expectations.

Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,735 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $697,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the first quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,819 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,652,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,075 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone purchased 1,189,532 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.22 per share, with a total value of $29,999,997.04. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $105,388,604.62. The trade was a 39.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total transaction of $16,736,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 808,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at $135,353,571.52. The trade was a 11.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and have sold 16,850,134 shares worth $131,641,986. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of BX traded up $2.51 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $169.85. The stock had a trading volume of 2,547,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,316,451. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $167.19 and a 200 day moving average of $149.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $125.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Blackstone's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.