Bank OZK Makes New $2.68 Million Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Bank OZK acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 22,759 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,678,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $8,667,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 100,951 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $15,561,000 after purchasing an additional 8,321 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at $1,340,000. Marble Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $7,303,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 92.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 807,184 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $92,817,000 after buying an additional 387,109 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total transaction of $6,619,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 516,017 shares in the company, valued at $75,911,260.87. The trade was a 8.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 765,111 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares of the company's stock, valued at $206,039,270.30. The trade was a 10.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 1,611,822 shares of company stock valued at $42,189,294 and have sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $143.62 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The stock has a market cap of $107.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $130.28 and a 200 day moving average of $122.78.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 115.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on BX shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $149.43.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone's business is organized around several principal investment platforms.

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