Baxter Bros Inc. Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Baxter Bros Inc. purchased 61,650 Blackstone shares during the second quarter, valued at approximately $7.25 million. Institutional investors collectively own 70% of Blackstone’s stock.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Blackstone, with an average price target of $147.95; several firms recently raised their targets despite some neutral or reduced outlooks.
• Blackstone reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with $1.52 in EPS and $5.04 billion in revenue, while increasing its quarterly dividend to $1.29 per share, or $5.16 annually.

Baxter Bros Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 61,650 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $7,254,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth $30,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Palladiem LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on BX. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Citizens Jmp lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $143.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $126.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.51. The stock has a market cap of $108.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value of $28,264,950.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders bought 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Company 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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