Aberdeen Group plc Purchases 31,581 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc has increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 5.1%, now owning a total of 648,963 shares worth approximately $97.4 million after acquiring 31,581 shares during the 2nd quarter.
• Insider trading activity includes significant sales from executives, with John G. Finley and Joseph Baratta selling shares valued at over $23 million combined.
• Blackstone recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, reflecting an increase from the previous dividend of $0.93, resulting in an annualized payout of $4.12 and a yield of 2.7%.

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 648,963 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 31,581 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.09% of Blackstone worth $97,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its position in Blackstone by 105.4% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 6,878 shares in the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $273,000. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 22.1% in the second quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 12,042 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares during the period. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $423,000. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 14.5% in the first quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 14,708 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,056,000 after purchasing an additional 1,863 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total transaction of $19,852,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 695,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,237,547.33. The trade was a 13.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 3,727,877 shares of company stock worth $95,046,625 and sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 4.2%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $153.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.37, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.77. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $172.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.22.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 110.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target 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. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $181.00 to $171.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $194.00 to $188.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $179.00.

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.

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