Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Holdings Increased by GSA Capital Partners LLP

Key Points

• GSA Capital Partners LLP significantly increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 723% in the first quarter, now holding over $4.4 million worth of the stock as its fourth largest holding.
• Blackstone reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.21, exceeding analysts' expectations, and achieved a revenue of $3.07 billion, up 32.7% year-over-year.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, reflecting a boost from the previous $0.93, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.33%.

GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 723.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,834 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 27,966 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up 0.4% of GSA Capital Partners LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. GSA Capital Partners LLP's holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,819 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,652,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,027 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $3.04 on Friday, reaching $169.92. The company had a trading volume of 2,554,367 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,279,919. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $151.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.98 billion, a PE ratio of 45.83, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BX. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Barclays raised their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citizens Jmp raised Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone purchased 1,189,532 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the purchase, the insider owned 4,178,771 shares in the company, valued at $105,388,604.62. This trade represents a 39.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the purchase, the director owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.