Gradient Investments LLC Grows Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Gradient Investments LLC has increased its stakes in Blackstone Inc. by 3.0%, owning 78,891 shares valued at approximately $11.8 million as of the end of the second quarter.
• Blackstone recently posted strong fiscal results, with earnings per share at $1.21, surpassing expectations, and quarterly revenue rising by 32.7% year-over-year to $3.07 billion.
• The firm declared a dividend increase to $1.03 per share, up from $0.93, resulting in a 2.2% annual yield and a dividend payout ratio of 110.75%.

Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,891 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 2,310 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $11,800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,469,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 4.4% in the first quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,762 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $246,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the first quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,819 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,652,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Park National Corp OH boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.4% in the second quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 2,334 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.7% during the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,075 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of BX opened at $183.83 on Tuesday. The company's fifty day moving average is $170.65 and its 200 day moving average is $150.65. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.50 billion, a PE ratio of 49.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74.

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, 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 company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Blackstone's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 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 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 110.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total transaction of $104,478,673.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 1,189,806 shares of company stock valued at $30,046,627 and have sold 16,871,634 shares valued at $135,328,376. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on BX. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $172.38.

About Blackstone

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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