Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Buys 3,749 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 15.2% in Q1, acquiring an additional 3,749 shares for a total of 28,445 shares valued at approximately $3.93 million.
• Major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. purchased over 1.1 million shares of Blackstone's stock, marking a 39.79% increase in their ownership.
• Blackstone recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03 per share, reflecting a positive change and signaling confidence in its financial stability.

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 15.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,445 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 3,749 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd's holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,819 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,652,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,027 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

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 sale, the insider owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at $65,819,775.92. This represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone purchased 1,189,532 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $105,388,604.62. This represents a 39.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $170.12.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX traded down $1.93 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $173.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,021,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,276,057. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $150.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. 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 $126.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.60, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.65.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Blackstone's revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

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.