Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Acquires 2,793 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 9.4%, purchasing an additional 2,793 shares to reach a total of 32,402 shares valued at $4.53 million.
• Several hedge funds, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Vanguard Group Inc., made significant investments in Blackstone during Q1, contributing to institutional investors owning 70% of the company's stock.
• Blackstone recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.93 to $1.03 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 2.4% and a payout ratio of 110.75%.

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 32,402 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 2,793 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,529,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 20,641 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,559,000 after buying an additional 1,183 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $765,000. Lionshead Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth approximately $922,000. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $7,940,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 3.2%

Blackstone stock traded up $5.68 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $183.91. The stock had a trading volume of 6,394,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,231,285. The stock has a market cap of $135.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.77. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $168.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's payout ratio is 110.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on BX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective 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. JMP Securities upped their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Saturday, July 19th. Piper Sandler boosted 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. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report 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, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $172.38.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone bought 1,189,532 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 453,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders acquired 1,189,806 shares of company stock valued at $30,046,627 and sold 16,871,634 shares valued at $135,328,376. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.