Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Purchases 29,940 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 4.2%, owning approximately 746,259 shares valued at $104.3 million.
• Blackstone announced a quarterly dividend payment of $1.03 per share, which is an increase from the previous dividend of $0.93, marking a 2.4% yield.
• Analyst ratings for Blackstone are mixed, with 10 analysts rating it as a hold and 9 as a buy, and a consensus price target of $170.12.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 746,259 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 29,940 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned about 0.10% of Blackstone worth $104,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,469,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the first 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 during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.7% in the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,075 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone purchased 1,189,532 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.22 per share, with a total value of $29,999,997.04. Following the purchase, the insider owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $105,388,604.62. This trade represents a 39.79% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX traded down $2.80 on Tuesday, reaching $167.70. The stock had a trading volume of 4,761,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,063,633. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $153.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $150.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $122.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%. The company's revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. On average, equities research 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities increased 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. Barclays increased their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $170.12.

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.