Dark Forest Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Dark Forest Capital Management LP has invested approximately $5.21 million in Blackstone Inc., acquiring 37,297 shares of the company during the first quarter.
• Multiple hedge funds have also increased their holdings in Blackstone, with notable raises including 301.7% by First Manhattan CO. LLC and 357.8% by Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC.
• Blackstone has recently announced a quarterly dividend increase, raising it from $0.93 to $1.03 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 2.4%.

Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 37,297 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $5,213,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in Blackstone by 105.4% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 6,878 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 6.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,747,000. Narwhal Capital Management grew its stake in Blackstone by 34.3% during the first quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 64,614 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,032,000 after acquiring an additional 16,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at approximately $794,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of Blackstone stock traded up $2.51 during trading on Thursday, reaching $169.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,547,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,316,451. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $125.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.66, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.77. The firm's 50-day moving average is $167.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.97. 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 (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 110.75%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 737,248 shares in the company, valued at $128,015,742.72. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 222 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $170.29 per share, with a total value of $37,804.38. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 38,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,599,248.37. This represents a 0.58% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and sold 16,850,134 shares worth $131,641,986. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus 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.