Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Has $5.11 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 31% in the first quarter, owning 36,806 shares worth approximately $5.11 million.
• Blackstone reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.21, exceeding analysts' expectations and achieving a 32.7% year-over-year revenue growth.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.03 per share, up from $0.93, reflecting a strong annualized dividend yield of 2.5%.

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 31.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,806 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 8,716 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 24,452 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,419,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,810,719 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $251,804,000 after buying an additional 68,362 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Advisors increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 87,768 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $12,268,000 after buying an additional 1,604 shares during the period. Bank OZK grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 20.0% during the first quarter. Bank OZK now owns 16,817 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,351,000 after purchasing an additional 2,808 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1,071.7% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 238,823 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $33,383,000 after purchasing an additional 218,440 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $164.3350 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $121.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.71. The stock's 50-day moving average is $160.57 and its 200-day moving average is $149.84. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. 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 (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.Blackstone's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business 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. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $170.12.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total value of $16,736,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 808,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $135,353,571.52. This represents a 11.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 737,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $128,015,742.72. This trade represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 1,189,806 shares of company stock valued at $30,046,627 and have sold 16,850,134 shares valued at $131,641,986. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Company 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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