Ieq Capital LLC Purchases 12,473 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 5.3% in the first quarter, owning 248,894 shares valued at approximately $34.79 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Blackstone's most recent earnings report showed a quarterly revenue of $3.07 billion, exceeding expectations, and it lifted its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03 per share, reflecting a 2.4% yield.
• Institutional investors own 70% of Blackstone's shares, highlighting strong institutional interest, with major hedge funds like Vanguard and Goldman Sachs also boosting their positions.

Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 248,894 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 12,473 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $34,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Blackstone by 105.4% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,874,000 after buying an additional 6,878 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 6.6% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,363,000 after buying an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,747,000. Narwhal Capital Management raised its position in Blackstone by 34.3% during the first quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 64,614 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,032,000 after purchasing an additional 16,486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter valued at about $794,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays raised their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE BX traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $171.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,943,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,664,666. 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 stock has a market cap of $126.47 billion, a PE ratio of 46.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $165.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $149.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.Blackstone's revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 110.75%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total value of $8,829,594.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 737,248 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $128,015,742.72. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total transaction of $104,478,673.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders bought 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and sold 16,850,134 shares worth $131,641,986. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.