First Financial Bankshares Inc Raises Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• First Financial Bankshares Inc increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 0.2% in Q1, now owning 728,439 shares valued at approximately $101.8 million, making it the bank's 11th largest holding.
• Blackstone reported earnings of $1.21 per share in the last quarter, surpassing expectations, with a year-over-year revenue increase of 32.7% to $3.07 billion.
• The company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 from $0.93, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.4%.

First Financial Bankshares Inc grew its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 728,439 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 1,782 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for 2.2% of First Financial Bankshares Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. First Financial Bankshares Inc owned approximately 0.10% of Blackstone worth $101,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter worth $28,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $169.94. 3,110,175 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,172,220. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.26 billion, a PE ratio of 45.68, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $167.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.97.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone acquired 1,189,532 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.22 per share, with a total value of $29,999,997.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $105,388,604.62. This represents a 39.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total value of $104,478,673.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 1,189,806 shares of company stock valued at $30,046,627 and have sold 16,850,134 shares valued at $131,641,986. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Saturday, July 19th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone 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.