Aigen Investment Management LP Acquires Shares of 15,745 Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management LP invested approximately $2.20 million in Blackstone Inc., acquiring 15,745 shares during the first quarter.
• Blackstone announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.03 per share, up from $0.93, reflecting a 2.4% yield and a payout ratio of 110.75%.
• The asset manager reported a revenue increase of 32.7% year-over-year, with earnings per share (EPS) of $1.21 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,745 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,201,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BX. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone acquired 1,189,532 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.97, for a total transaction of $1,597,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 54,488 shares in the company, valued at $9,261,325.36. The trade was a 14.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $170.12.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded up $1.23 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $170.14. 2,609,144 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,825,000. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.14 billion, a PE ratio of 45.74, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.71. The company's 50 day moving average price is $156.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $149.92.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 110.75%.

About Blackstone

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.