591,248 Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX Bought by Bamco Inc. NY

Key Points

• Bamco Inc. NY acquired 591,248 Blackstone shares worth approximately $69.6 million in the second quarter, giving it about a 0.08% stake. Institutional investors collectively own roughly 70% of Blackstone.
• Blackstone exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.52 in adjusted EPS versus the $1.34 consensus and $5.04 billion in revenue, up 35.9% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $147.95, while Blackstone raised its quarterly dividend to $1.29 per share, implying a 3.6% annualized yield.

Bamco Inc. NY bought a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 591,248 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $69,572,000. Bamco Inc. NY owned approximately 0.08% of Blackstone as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone purchased 272,642 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $7,126,861.88. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 8,704,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $227,533,512.66. This trade represents a 3.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of several research reports. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Argus boosted their price target on Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, HSBC reissued a "hold" rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $143.25 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $107.53 billion, a PE ratio of 32.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.68.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 115.44%.

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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