Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Purchased by United Bank

Key Points

• United Bank has increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 14.7%, owning a total of 13,528 shares valued at over $2 million.
• Analysts have mixed forecasts for Blackstone's stock, with target price changes that include a decrease from $200 to $199 by Bank of America and increases by Wells Fargo and HSBC.
• Blackstone recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03, reflecting a positive trend for shareholders.

United Bank raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,528 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 1,729 shares during the quarter. United Bank's holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 105.4% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 6,878 shares during the period. Kera Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $273,000. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 22.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 12,042 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares in the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $423,000. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 14,708 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,056,000 after purchasing an additional 1,863 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BX. Bank of America dropped their price target on Blackstone from $200.00 to $199.00 in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. HSBC increased their target price on Blackstone from $170.00 to $179.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Blackstone from $215.00 to $208.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $180.26.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $156.37 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $171.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $154.77. The firm has a market cap of $115.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.03, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $1.03 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 110.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total value of $8,829,594.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 737,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $128,015,742.72. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 2,538,071 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.61 per share, with a total value of $64,999,998.31. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 7,506,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $192,234,012.49. This represents a 51.09% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 2,538,345 shares of company stock worth $65,046,628 and have sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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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