Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Blackstone Inc. by 21.6%, owning 41,387 shares valued at $5.78 million as of its most recent SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors, including GAMMA Investing LLC and Vanguard Group Inc., have significantly raised their stakes in Blackstone, with hedge funds owning 70.00% of the company's stock.
• Blackstone recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.93 to $1.03 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.2% and a dividend payout ratio of 110.75%.

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 21.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,387 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 7,365 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock traded down $2.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $181.44. 3,356,111 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,392,924. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $170.04 and a 200 day moving average of $150.53. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $133.74 billion, a PE ratio of 48.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.77.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The business 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 company posted $0.98 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid 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 2.3%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 110.75%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total value of $104,478,673.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total transaction of $3,686,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at $77,814,720.56. This represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and sold 16,871,634 shares worth $135,328,376. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.