Callan Family Office LLC Purchases 28,573 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Callan Family Office LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 275.8%, acquiring an additional 28,573 shares during the first quarter, raising their holdings' value to approximately $5.44 million.
• Several large investors, including Brighton Jones LLC and Savvy Advisors Inc., also raised their stakes in Blackstone, indicating strong institutional interest, which now represents 70% of the company's stock.
• Blackstone reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.21 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and showing a 32.7% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Callan Family Office LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 275.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,932 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 28,573 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,442,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,997,581 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $9,504,702,000 after buying an additional 1,102,949 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,016,046 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,209,707,000 after acquiring an additional 681,512 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,292,320 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $739,761,000 after acquiring an additional 742,829 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in Blackstone by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,195,551 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $895,817,000 after purchasing an additional 144,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,162,867 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $581,886,000 after acquiring an additional 117,724 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX traded down $3.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $171.61. 3,210,712 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,238,091. The stock has a market cap of $126.49 billion, a PE ratio of 46.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $158.42 and a 200-day moving average of $150.21. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 110.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, July 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $170.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone purchased 1,189,532 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 4,178,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,388,604.62. This represents a 39.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total transaction of $16,736,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 808,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $135,353,571.52. This represents a 11.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.