American National Bank & Trust Has $1.27 Million Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• American National Bank & Trust has significantly increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 7,051.3%, now owning 8,510 shares valued at approximately $1.27 million.
• Blackstone also recently declared an increased quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, marking a rise from the previous $0.93 and representing an annualized dividend yield of 2.3%.
• In insider trading news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of Blackstone, reducing his stake by 11%, although other insiders have been actively buying shares.

American National Bank & Trust increased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 7,051.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,510 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 8,391 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust's holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. 1248 Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total transaction of $16,736,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 808,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $135,353,571.52. The trade was a 11.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total transaction of $8,829,594.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 737,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at $128,015,742.72. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders bought 3,727,877 shares of company stock worth $95,046,625 and sold 16,871,634 shares worth $135,328,376. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.2%

BX opened at $175.86 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $173.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $152.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on BX. Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $172.38.

Blackstone 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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