MBL Wealth LLC Takes $238,000 Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• MBL Wealth LLC has acquired a new stake in Blackstone Inc., purchasing 1,594 shares valued at approximately $238,000 during the second quarter.
• Blackstone declared a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, increasing from the previous $0.93, contributing to an annualized yield of 2.4%.
• Notable insider transactions include Private Multi-Asset Blackstone increasing its stake by over 51% with the purchase of over 2.5 million shares, while director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares, reflecting a 13.97% decrease in his ownership.

MBL Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,594 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 105.4% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 6,878 shares during the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth $273,000. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 22.1% in the second quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 12,042 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares during the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $423,000. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 14,708 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,056,000 after buying an additional 1,863 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 2,538,071 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.61 per share, for a total transaction of $64,999,998.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,506,209 shares in the company, valued at approximately $192,234,012.49. This trade represents a 51.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total transaction of $19,852,970.00. Following the sale, the director owned 695,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at $122,237,547.33. This represents a 13.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have bought 3,727,877 shares of company stock valued at $95,046,625 and have sold 16,984,634 shares valued at $155,181,346. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of BX opened at $168.40 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $173.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.27, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.77.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane increased their price target on Blackstone from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $175.53.

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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