Empowered Funds LLC Acquires Shares of 265,227 Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC acquired 265,227 Blackstone shares worth approximately $31.2 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own about 70% of Blackstone’s outstanding stock.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 13 Buy ratings and 11 Holds producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $149.43.
• Blackstone exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.52 in EPS and $5.04 billion in revenue, while raising its quarterly dividend to $1.29 per share, equivalent to a 3.6% yield.

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 265,227 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $31,209,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,112,162,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth $1,364,373,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $1,275,747,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $605,267,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $514,736,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 371 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $137.17 per share, with a total value of $50,890.07. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 42,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,787,065.13. This represents a 0.89% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone bought 272,642 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $7,126,861.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 8,704,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at $227,533,512.66. This trade represents a 3.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 1,611,822 shares of company stock valued at $42,189,294 and have sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. HSBC reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, July 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $149.43.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of BX stock opened at $143.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $130.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.78.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company's revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone's payout ratio is 115.44%.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone's business is organized around several principal investment platforms.

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