Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Acquired by Jump Financial LLC

Key Points

• Jump Financial LLC significantly increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by purchasing 212,358 shares, raising its ownership position by 8,457.1% in the first quarter, bringing total shares owned to 214,869 worth approximately $30 million.
• Blackstone Inc. announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.03, up from $0.93, representing a yield of 2.4%.
• Recent analyst ratings show mixed opinions on Blackstone, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and target prices ranging from $153 to $197.

Jump Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 8,457.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 214,869 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 212,358 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $30,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,469,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $697,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the first quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,819 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,652,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,460,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX traded up $0.92 during trading on Thursday, hitting $172.56. 1,156,921 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,207,951. The company has a market cap of $127.19 billion, a PE ratio of 46.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.71. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $163.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $149.72. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Blackstone's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 110.75%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total transaction of $104,478,673.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 222 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $170.29 per share, for a total transaction of $37,804.38. Following the transaction, the director owned 38,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,599,248.37. The trade was a 0.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and have sold 16,850,134 shares worth $131,641,986. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BX. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.