American Assets Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• American Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by an astonishing 1,270.5%, owning 47,351 shares valued at approximately $6.62 million.
• Several other institutional investors also noticeably boosted their positions in Blackstone, with FMR LLC leading by increasing its stake by 38.8% during the fourth quarter.
• Blackstone recently reported a quarterly EPS of $1.21, surpassing expectations and marking a 32.7% year-over-year revenue increase, while also announcing a dividend increase from $0.93 to $1.03 per share.

American Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1,270.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 47,351 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 43,896 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up approximately 2.8% of American Assets Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. American Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 105.4% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 6,878 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $63,109,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,363,000 after buying an additional 1,943 shares during the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $1,747,000. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 34.3% during the first quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 64,614 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,032,000 after buying an additional 16,486 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, July 25th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $170.12.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $170.30. 3,974,061 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,286,904. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $124.26 billion, a PE ratio of 45.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.71. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $152.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.49.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone acquired 1,189,532 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was bought 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 directly owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $105,388,604.62. This represents a 39.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.