Byrne Asset Management LLC Invests $1.23 Million in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Byrne Asset Management LLC has invested $1.23 million in Blackstone Inc., acquiring 8,235 shares during the 2nd quarter.
• Recent reports indicate that major financial firms, including Goldman Sachs and Vanguard Group, have increased their holdings in Blackstone, reflecting strong institutional interest.
• Blackstone announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.03 per share, raising its annualized dividend to $4.12, which results in a 2.2% dividend yield.

Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 8,235 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,232,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,997,581 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,504,702,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,949 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 742,829 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,291,546 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $599,872,000 after acquiring an additional 182,526 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 2.9% in 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. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 19.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 4,109,020 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $708,477,000 after acquiring an additional 678,111 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. JMP Securities increased 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total value of $104,478,673.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total transaction of $8,829,594.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 737,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at $128,015,742.72. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and have sold 16,871,634 shares worth $135,328,376. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.4%

BX stock opened at $183.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $170.65 and a 200 day moving average of $150.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.50 billion, a PE ratio of 49.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.75%.

Blackstone Company 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.

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