Ayrshire Capital Management LLC Buys 2,028 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Ayrshire Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 16.3%, owning a total of 14,444 shares valued at approximately $2.16 million, making it the 26th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Blackstone recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.21 per share, surpassing estimates, and experienced a 32.7% increase in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.
• The company has increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03 per share, resulting in a dividend yield of 2.2%, with a payout ratio currently at 110.75%.

Ayrshire Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 16.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,444 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 2,028 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for 1.0% of Ayrshire Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.7% in the second quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 2,657 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 5,226 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $782,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $275,000. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 11.4% during the second quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC now owns 16,194 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653 shares during the period. Finally, Jackson Square Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,234,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:BX opened at $183.73 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.39, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.77. The business's 50-day moving average price is $171.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.10. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Blackstone's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO David Payne sold 9,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.97, for a total value of $1,597,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 54,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,261,325.36. This represents a 14.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at $77,814,720.56. This represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and sold 16,871,634 shares worth $135,328,376. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on BX shares. Citigroup reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Saturday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.38.

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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