1,780 Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX Purchased by Alpha Family Trust

Key Points

• Alpha Family Trust acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. by purchasing 1,780 shares, valued at approximately $249,000, during the first quarter.
• Blackstone declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, which represents an increase from the previous dividend of $0.93, leading to an annualized dividend of $4.12.
• Despite a strong quarterly earnings report with revenue of $3.07 billion, Blackstone's stock has seen a 1.8% decline recently, with current shares trading at $171.61.

Alpha Family Trust purchased a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,780 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,011 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 3,540 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $495,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in Blackstone by 38.5% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,548 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at about $419,000. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory grew its stake in Blackstone by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 3,216 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of BX stock opened at $171.61 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The firm has a market cap of $126.49 billion, a PE ratio of 46.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $159.05 and a 200-day moving average of $149.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $170.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Blackstone 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.

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