Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Bought by Carnegie Investment Counsel

Key Points

• Carnegie Investment Counsel significantly increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 1,784.4%, owning a total of 28,944 shares after purchasing an additional 27,408 shares, with holdings valued at $4,046,000.
• Blackstone recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.03 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 2.32%, up from the previous dividend of $0.93.
• Analyst ratings for Blackstone show a consensus rating of "Hold" with a price target of $168.71, while recent reports highlight a rise in several institutional investors' stakes in the company.

Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1,784.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,944 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 27,408 shares during the quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Blackstone by 105.4% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 6,878 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $63,109,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,363,000 after buying an additional 1,943 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $1,747,000. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 64,614 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,032,000 after buying an additional 16,486 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 2,849,769 shares of company stock worth $54,932,307 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BX. Citigroup reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Saturday, July 19th. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $168.71.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.1%

BX traded up $0.13 on Monday, hitting $178.23. The company had a trading volume of 666,257 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,301,543. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $149.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $150.35. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS 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 issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.