NewEdge Advisors LLC Acquires 7,822 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 9.1%, now owning 94,075 shares valued at approximately $13.15 million.
• Analysts have boosted their price targets for Blackstone, with estimates ranging from $181.00 to $197.00, indicating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Blackstone recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 per share, increasing from the previous $0.93, which translates to an annualized dividend yield of 2.4%.

NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 9.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 94,075 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 7,822 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $13,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,469,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased 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 buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,075 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,539,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Tradition Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,044 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,264,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat bought 222 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were acquired 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 owned 38,753 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,599,248.37. The trade was a 0.58% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at $77,814,720.56. The trade was a 4.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 1,189,806 shares of company stock valued at $30,046,627 and have sold 16,871,634 shares valued at $135,328,376. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE:BX traded down $2.80 on Friday, reaching $181.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,098,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,154,283. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-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 firm has a market cap of $133.51 billion, a PE ratio of 48.67, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.77. The business's 50-day moving average price is $169.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.43.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The business's revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Saturday, July 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $172.38.

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.