Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Position Increased by Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC

Key Points

• Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 18.4% in the first quarter, owning 44,742 shares valued at approximately $6.25 million.
• A number of research analysts have raised their target prices for Blackstone, with Evercore ISI setting a new high of $197.00, reflecting a positive outlook on the company's stock.
• Blackstone recently declared an increased quarterly dividend of $1.03, up from $0.93, with the ex-dividend date set for August 4th.

Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 18.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,742 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 6,945 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises 0.7% of Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $239,837,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 14,608.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,322,598 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $184,873,000 after buying an additional 1,313,606 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 38.8% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,990,238 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $515,577,000 after buying an additional 835,170 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Blackstone by 10.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 681,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 675.6% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 780,738 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $134,615,000 after purchasing an additional 680,074 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:BX traded up $1.75 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $169.43. 2,467,232 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,099,879. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.55. The firm has a market cap of $123.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.54, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 110.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. JMP Securities raised their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Blackstone from $233.00 to $147.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.12.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total transaction of $16,736,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 808,757 shares in the company, valued at $135,353,571.52. The trade was a 11.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.