Fayez Sarofim & Co Acquires 3,031 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by acquiring an additional 3,031 shares, bringing its total holdings to 1,202,450 shares valued at approximately $168 million.
• Blackstone Inc. recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, up from the previous $0.93, reflecting a positive change in their payout structure.
• In its latest earnings report, Blackstone reported $1.21 earnings per share, exceeding analysts’ expectations, and a 32.7% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Fayez Sarofim & Co grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,202,450 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 3,031 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co owned approximately 0.16% of Blackstone worth $168,078,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $169.43 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The firm has a market cap of $123.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company's 50 day moving average is $154.41 and its 200-day moving average is $150.68.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 110.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone bought 1,189,532 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $105,388,604.62. This represents a 39.79% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total transaction of $16,736,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 808,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $135,353,571.52. The trade was a 11.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Citigroup restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $170.12.

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.

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