Moore Capital Management LP Purchases New Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Moore Capital Management purchased a new position of 83,760 shares in Blackstone (NYSE:BX) during Q3, valued at about $14.31 million.
• Insider activity: major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana bought 1,146,789 shares at ~$26.16 (~$30M), increasing its stake 7.37%, while Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares at $10 (~$16M).
• Blackstone raised its quarterly dividend to $1.49 (annualized $5.96, a 5.6% yield) and recently reported better-than-expected results—Q EPS $1.75 vs. $1.54 estimate and revenue up 41.4% year-over-year.

Moore Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 83,760 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $14,310,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $27,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 1,146,789 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.16 per share, for a total transaction of $30,000,000.24. Following the purchase, the insider owned 16,716,249 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,297,073.84. This represents a 7.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $107.09 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.80. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $133.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $149.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.The business had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $1.49 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 153.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 20th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $185.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, HSBC dropped their price target on Blackstone from $178.00 to $174.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $165.86.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone's business is organized around several principal investment platforms.

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