UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Has $599.87 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 4.4% in the first quarter, acquiring an additional 182,526 shares, bringing their total to 4,291,546 shares valued at approximately $600 million.
• Major shareholder Bx Buzz ML-1 Gp LLC sold 16.69 million shares of Blackstone at an average price of $6.26 per share, while Director Ruth Porat purchased 222 shares at $170.29 each.
• Blackstone recently increased its quarterly dividend to $1.03 from $0.93, reflecting a payout ratio of 110.75% and an annual yield of 2.4%.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,291,546 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 182,526 shares during the quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned approximately 0.59% of Blackstone worth $599,872,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 20,641 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,559,000 after buying an additional 1,183 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $765,000. MJP Associates Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 2,067 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 14,731 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,540,000 after buying an additional 3,499 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock traded down $2.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $181.44. 3,356,111 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,409,331. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $170.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.74 billion, a PE ratio of 48.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's payout ratio is 110.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total transaction of $8,829,594.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 737,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,015,742.72. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, 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 owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.