Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Bought by OLD National Bancorp IN

Key Points

• OLD National Bancorp IN increased its Blackstone stake by 32.3% in the first quarter, buying 15,701 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 64,294 shares worth about $7.4 million.
• Blackstone reported quarterly earnings of $1.36 per share, beating expectations, while revenue rose 10% year over year to $3.43 billion, slightly below analyst forecasts.
• The stock has drawn mixed analyst sentiment, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $150.86, while the company also paid a $1.16 quarterly dividend yielding about 4.0%.

OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 32.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 64,294 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 15,701 shares during the quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN's holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $67,703,000 after buying an additional 8,655 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $133.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $150.86.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. The trade was a -2,529.85% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders acquired a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock valued at $209,789,893 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $115.66 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The stock has a market cap of $85.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $120.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The firm had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a $1.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 118.67%.

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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