Chickasaw Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Chickasaw Capital Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone Inc. by 11.4% during Q2, owning 16,194 shares valued at $2.42 million at the end of the quarter.
• Blackstone recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, up from $0.93, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.2%.
• Major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. bought over 1.18 million shares of Blackstone at an average cost of $25.22 per share, increasing their ownership by nearly 40%.

Chickasaw Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,194 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 1,653 shares during the quarter. Chickasaw Capital Management LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,469,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. McAdam LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,762 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,819 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Park National Corp OH boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 2,334 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Breakwater Capital Group boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 1,613 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $241,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.8%

BX traded up $5.12 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $188.74. The company had a trading volume of 4,395,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,205,040. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $172.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $151.31. The company has a market capitalization of $139.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.74, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.77. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 2.2%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total transaction of $8,829,594.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 737,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $128,015,742.72. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 222 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $170.29 per share, for a total transaction of $37,804.38. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 38,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,599,248.37. The trade was a 0.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and sold 16,871,634 shares worth $135,328,376. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $172.38.

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.