American Century Companies Inc. Has $9.92 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 8.4%, acquiring an additional 5,473 shares, bringing its total holdings to 70,986 shares valued at approximately $9.92 million.
• Blackstone's stock has received positive ratings from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target of $172.38.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03, increasing from the previous dividend of $0.93, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.4%.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 8.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,986 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 5,473 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ethic Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 63,685 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,094,000 after acquiring an additional 3,125 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 53,488 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $7,477,000 after acquiring an additional 910 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc increased its position in Blackstone by 77.2% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 617,382 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $84,689,000 after acquiring an additional 268,965 shares in the last quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 85.9% in the 1st quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 135,474 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $18,937,000 after purchasing an additional 62,601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,275,282 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $178,245,000 after purchasing an additional 19,803 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total value of $104,478,673.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total transaction of $16,736,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 808,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,353,571.52. This represents a 11.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders purchased 1,189,806 shares of company stock valued at $30,046,627 and sold 16,850,134 shares valued at $131,641,986. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, July 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX traded down $0.44 on Friday, hitting $171.59. 1,943,579 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,664,666. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The business's fifty day moving average is $165.11 and its 200 day moving average is $149.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $126.47 billion, a PE ratio of 46.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.71.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. 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 2.4%. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

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.