Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Purchases 12,855 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 114.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,121 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 12,855 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $30,000. NBH Bank bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone bought 272,642 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $7,126,861.88. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 8,704,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at $227,533,512.66. The trade was a 3.23% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. The trade was a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and have sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $149.43.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $133.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.50 billion, a PE ratio of 29.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $133.50 and a 200 day moving average of $123.14.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone's payout ratio is 115.44%.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment management and advisory services to institutions, corporations, and individual investors. The company invests across multiple asset classes, including private equity, real estate, credit, infrastructure, insurance solutions, and hedge fund solutions.

Its investment activities include acquiring and managing businesses, commercial and residential properties, infrastructure assets, and credit investments.

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