Hoxton Planning & Management LLC Invests $222,000 in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Hoxton Planning & Management LLC invested approximately $222,000 in Blackstone Inc., purchasing 1,590 shares during the first quarter.
• Blackstone recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.93 to $1.03, representing an annualized yield of 2.4%.
• The company's Q2 earnings showed a significant growth with $3.07 billion in revenue, beating estimates and marking a 32.7% year-over-year increase.

Hoxton Planning & Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,590 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of BX opened at $172.94 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $151.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.84. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96. The stock has a market cap of $126.19 billion, a PE ratio of 46.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.65. 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 (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. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This is an increase 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 payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total value of $3,461,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 237 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 37,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,053,344.11. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BX shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays increased 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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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