Diligent Investors LLC Sells 7,870 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Diligent Investors LLC reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 35%, selling 7,870 shares in the second quarter, leaving them with 14,593 shares valued at about $2.18 million.
• Blackstone reported a 32.7% year-over-year revenue increase of $3.07 billion for the quarter, exceeding expectations, with earnings per share of $1.21.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03, representing an annualized yield of 2.4% and a payout ratio of 110.75%.

Diligent Investors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 35.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,593 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 7,870 shares during the quarter. Diligent Investors LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,183,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter worth $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $168.40 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $124.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.27, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.77. The stock's 50 day moving average is $173.81 and its 200 day moving average is $153.77. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 payout ratio is 110.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Blackstone in a report on Friday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $176.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total value of $19,852,970.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 695,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $122,237,547.33. This trade represents a 13.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total value of $104,478,673.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 3,727,877 shares of company stock worth $95,046,625 and sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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