Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 46.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,922 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 6,344 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV's holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth about $36,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the firm'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 sale, the insider directly owned 737,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,015,742.72. This trade represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 222 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $170.29 per share, for a total transaction of $37,804.38. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 38,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,599,248.37. This represents a 0.58% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders acquired 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 Stock Performance
NYSE:BX opened at $171.61 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.13, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $159.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.12. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $200.96.
Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS 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 quarter last year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.
Blackstone Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued 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 was Monday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 110.75%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $170.12.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on BX
Blackstone Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report).

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