Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Purchases 4,310 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Beech Hill Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 16.8%, owning a total of 29,970 shares valued at approximately $4.48 million after acquiring an additional 4,310 shares in the second quarter.
• Blackstone recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.03 per share, which signifies a positive change from the previous dividend of $0.93, giving it an annual yield of 2.6%.
• Shares of Blackstone (BX) opened at $160.57, with a market capitalization of $118.36 billion, while its 52-week trading range is between $115.66 and $200.96.

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 16.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,970 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 4,310 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for 2.0% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.8% during the second quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 135,824 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $20,316,000 after purchasing an additional 3,636 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in Blackstone by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 339,265 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $50,747,000 after acquiring an additional 19,052 shares in the last quarter. Divergent Planning LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,208,000. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the second quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 45,626 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $6,825,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, VCI Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 16.5% during the second quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,700 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,451,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of BX opened at $160.57 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The firm has a market cap of $118.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.77. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $171.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's payout ratio is 110.75%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total transaction of $104,478,673.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone purchased 2,538,071 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.61 per share, with a total value of $64,999,998.31. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 7,506,209 shares in the company, valued at $192,234,012.49. This trade represents a 51.09% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 2,538,345 shares of company stock worth $65,046,628 and have sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on BX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $194.00 to $188.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $199.00 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $180.26.

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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