Virtu Financial LLC Has $6.06 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Virtu Financial LLC significantly increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 492.9% in Q1, acquiring over 36,000 additional shares to bring its total ownership to approximately $6.06 million.
• Blackstone's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.21, surpassing expectations and a year-over-year revenue increase of 32.7% to $3.07 billion.
• The company increased its dividend to $1.03 per share, marking an annualized yield of 2.4%, with a dividend payout ratio currently at 110.75%.

Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 492.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,357 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 36,044 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for 0.3% of Virtu Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 30,819 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,314,000 after purchasing an additional 2,512 shares in the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 31.9% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,275 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,214 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 19,097 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,293,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $1,659,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone acquired 1,189,532 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 4,178,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,388,604.62. This trade represents a 39.79% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 trade represents 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on BX. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $170.12.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock traded up $3.66 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $173.73. The stock had a trading volume of 4,180,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,829,399. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $150.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.05 billion, a PE ratio of 46.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given 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 was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 110.75%.

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.