ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Buys 15,860 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. has increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 39.3% during the 2nd quarter, purchasing an additional 15,860 shares, bringing their total to 56,183 shares valued at approximately $8.4 million.
• Blackstone Inc. reported strong financial performance with a net margin of 20.83% and a 32.7% increase in revenue year-over-year, surpassing analyst estimates for both earnings and revenue.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03 per share, representing a 2.5% annual yield, although this reflects a high payout ratio of 110.75%.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 39.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,183 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 15,860 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Naples Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 44,000 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $6,582,000 after acquiring an additional 1,915 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $657,000. BSW Wealth Partners lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 6,076 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $222,000. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $263,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of BX opened at $166.72 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.61. The firm has a market cap of $122.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.77.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The company's revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 110.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Saturday, July 19th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $172.71.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 2,538,071 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.61 per share, for a total transaction of $64,999,998.31. Following the transaction, the insider owned 7,506,209 shares of the company's stock, valued at $192,234,012.49. The trade was a 51.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total value of $8,829,594.00. Following the transaction, the insider 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. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 3,727,877 shares of company stock worth $95,046,625 and sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is owned by 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.

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