Allen Investment Management LLC Has $53.70 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Allen Investment Management LLC significantly increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 124.4% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 212,968 shares for a total of 384,177 shares.
• Blackstone recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.21 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenues of $3.07 billion, reflecting a 32.7% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, up from $0.93, indicating a growing annualized dividend yield of 2.32%.

Allen Investment Management LLC grew its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 124.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 384,177 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 212,968 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises approximately 0.6% of Allen Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Allen Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Blackstone worth $53,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of BX. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, insider Private Credit Stra Blackstone purchased 1,660,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.00 per share, with a total value of $24,900,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,666,667 shares in the company, valued at $25,000,005. This trade represents a 24,898.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased 2,849,769 shares of company stock valued at $54,932,307 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded down $0.54 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $176.50. 1,391,782 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,284,526. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $150.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $128.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.65.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BX. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Saturday, July 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $170.12.

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.