Fidelity National Financial Inc. Invests $12.36 Million in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Fidelity National Financial acquired 105,000 Blackstone shares valued at approximately $12.36 million, making BX about 0.4% of its portfolio. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 70% of Blackstone.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with 13 Buy ratings and 11 Holds and an average price target of $147.95. Recent targets were raised by Oppenheimer, Piper Sandler, Goldman Sachs and Barclays.
• Blackstone exceeded quarterly expectations with $1.52 in EPS and $5.04 billion in revenue, while revenue grew 35.9% year over year. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $1.29 per share, or $5.16 annualized, for a 3.7% yield.

Fidelity National Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 105,000 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $12,355,000. Blackstone makes up approximately 0.4% of Fidelity National Financial Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its holdings in Blackstone by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management increased its position in Blackstone by 2.1% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Founders Financial Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen research 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, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $147.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total transaction of $6,619,950.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 516,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $75,911,260.87. This trade represents a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $4,066,500.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 869,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at $117,883,632.95. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $140.62 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $127.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $105.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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