UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Increases Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp increased its position in Blackstone Inc. by 16.3% in the first quarter, holding 35,497 shares valued at approximately $4.96 million.
• Blackstone recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, up from the previous dividend of $0.93, representing an annualized payout of $4.12.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Blackstone's stock, with target prices ranging from $150 to $197 as ten analysts suggest a hold rating while nine recommend buying.

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 16.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,497 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 4,962 shares during the quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp's holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $20,543,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 49.8% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 334 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 43.6% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 45,709 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $7,881,000 after acquiring an additional 13,882 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $587,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Saturday, July 19th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.12.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE:BX traded down $2.54 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $170.42. 3,662,374 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,887,348. The firm's fifty day moving average is $152.55 and its 200-day moving average is $150.68. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.70. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Blackstone's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This is a positive change 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 payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.