Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Bought by Farther Finance Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 142.8%, owning 39,152 shares valued at approximately $5.86 million at the end of the last quarter.
• Blackstone recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 per share, resulting in a 2.2% dividend yield, up from the previous dividend of $0.93.
• Analysts rate Blackstone's stock as a Moderate Buy, with a consensus price target of $172.38, following positive earnings and revenue growth in the latest quarter.

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 142.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,152 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 23,029 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 105.4% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 6,878 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 6.6% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,363,000 after acquiring an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $1,747,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth $273,000. Finally, Sandy Cove Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 22.1% in the second quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 12,042 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,801,000 after acquiring an additional 2,182 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on BX. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.38.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of BX traded down $1.85 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $185.77. 3,037,138 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,169,716. The stock has a market cap of $136.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.77. The stock's 50-day moving average is $172.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.Blackstone's revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 110.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone bought 1,189,532 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $105,388,604.62. The trade was a 39.79% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total value of $8,829,594.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 737,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at $128,015,742.72. This trade represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and have sold 16,871,634 shares worth $135,328,376. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.