Blackstone Inc. $BX Holdings Boosted by Apella Capital LLC

Key Points

• Apella Capital LLC significantly increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 41.6% during the second quarter, bringing its total to 11,778 shares valued at approximately $1.8 million.
• Blackstone announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, an increase from the previous $0.93, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.2%.
• Despite challenges in the market, Blackstone's revenue for the quarter rose by 32.7%, significantly surpassing analyst estimates, with earnings per share of $1.21 exceeding expectations of $1.10.

Apella Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 41.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,778 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 3,462 shares during the period. Apella Capital LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,469,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. McAdam LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.4% in the first quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,762 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the first quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,819 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,652,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Park National Corp OH increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.4% in the second quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 2,334 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.7% in the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,075 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,539,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $172.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone purchased 1,189,532 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $105,388,604.62. The trade was a 39.79% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 1,189,806 shares of company stock valued at $30,046,627 and sold 16,871,634 shares valued at $135,328,376. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.4%

BX stock opened at $183.83 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.65. The firm has a market cap of $135.50 billion, a PE ratio of 49.42, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.77.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. Blackstone's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid 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 yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

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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