Koa Wealth Management LLC Increases Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Koa Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 19.6% during the first quarter, owning a total of 17,072 shares valued at approximately $2.39 million.
• Blackstone recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.03, reflecting a 10.75% rise from the previous dividend, with a yield of 2.4%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Blackstone, with ten analysts giving a hold rating and nine analysts recommending a buy, with a revised average target price of $170.12.

Koa Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 19.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,072 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 2,793 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for about 1.9% of Koa Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Koa Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO David Payne sold 9,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.97, for a total transaction of $1,597,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 54,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,261,325.36. The trade was a 14.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 808,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $135,353,571.52. The trade was a 11.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. JMP Securities upped their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Saturday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.12.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of BX stock traded up $1.23 during trading on Monday, hitting $170.14. 2,609,144 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,825,000. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 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. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $155.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.04. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released 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 in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

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.