Headlands Technologies LLC Acquires New Shares in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Headlands Technologies LLC has invested approximately $517,000 in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by acquiring 3,702 shares in the first quarter.
• Major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone significantly increased its position by acquiring over 1.1 million shares valued at nearly $30 million.
• Blackstone recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.03 per share, up from $0.93, representing a yield of 2.4%.

Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,702 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $517,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,016,046 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,209,707,000 after purchasing an additional 681,512 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,292,320 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $739,761,000 after acquiring an additional 742,829 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in Blackstone by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 5,195,551 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $895,817,000 after purchasing an additional 144,926 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,162,867 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $581,886,000 after buying an additional 117,724 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock traded up $1.23 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $170.14. 2,609,144 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,245,646. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $155.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $150.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 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. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The business's revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, CAO David Payne sold 9,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.97, for a total transaction of $1,597,718.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 54,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,261,325.36. This represents a 14.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total value of $16,736,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 808,757 shares in the company, valued at $135,353,571.52. The trade was a 11.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $170.12.

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.