Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Buys 2,631 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, now owning a total of 23,191 shares valued at approximately $3.24 million.
• Blackstone announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.03 per share, which will be paid to investors on August 11th, raising the annualized dividend to $4.12.
• Several brokerages have upgraded their price targets for Blackstone, with Deutsche Bank setting a new target of $192.00 and a majority of analysts rating the stock as a "Hold".

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,191 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 2,631 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 6.8% in the first quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,556 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.6% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 16.3% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 4.1% in the first quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 25,749 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,599,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone purchased 1,189,532 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $105,388,604.62. This represents a 39.79% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total value of $16,736,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 808,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at $135,353,571.52. This trade represents a 11.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BX. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, July 25th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $170.12.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.8%

BX traded up $1.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $168.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,278,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,909,915. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $155.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.41, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Blackstone's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 dividend yield of 2.4%. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

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.