GAMMA Investing LLC Raises Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 16.7%, owning 11,040 shares worth approximately $1.65 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Blackstone's quarterly earnings report showed EPS of $1.21, exceeding expectations and indicating a revenue increase of 32.7% year-over-year.
• The company announced a new quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, up from $0.93, representing a yield of 2.2%.

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 16.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,040 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 1,578 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 519,669.1% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 70,132,441 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $10,490,411,000 after buying an additional 70,118,948 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,997,581 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,504,702,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,949 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,292,320 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $739,761,000 after purchasing an additional 742,829 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 4.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,291,546 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $599,872,000 after purchasing an additional 182,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 2.9% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,162,867 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $581,886,000 after purchasing an additional 117,724 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $185.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $151.89. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.93 billion, a PE ratio of 49.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.77.

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, beating 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 net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. Blackstone's revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at $77,814,720.56. The trade was a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 222 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $170.29 per share, with a total value of $37,804.38. Following the acquisition, the director owned 38,753 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,599,248.37. This trade represents a 0.58% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 3,727,877 shares of company stock worth $95,046,625 and sold 16,871,634 shares worth $135,328,376. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Company 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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