Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Purchased by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. has increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 5.4%, now holding a total of 129,545 shares valued at approximately $18.1 million.
• Several institutional investors have also significantly boosted their holdings in Blackstone, with GAMMA Investing LLC experiencing a massive increase of 14,608.6% in their position during the first quarter.
• Blackstone recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03, reflecting an annualized dividend of $4.12 and a yield of 2.4%.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 5.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 129,545 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 6,604 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $18,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Haverford Trust Co increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 8,525 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 14,237 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,990,000 after purchasing an additional 2,366 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,231,000. Allstate Corp increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 36.0% in the 1st quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 29,055 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,061,000 after purchasing an additional 7,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 18,283 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,556,000 after purchasing an additional 1,382 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Saturday, July 19th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $172.38.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $171.59. 1,943,579 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,578,673. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month 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 market cap of $126.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.77. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $165.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.64.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Blackstone's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total value of $16,736,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 808,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at $135,353,571.52. The trade was a 11.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 222 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $170.29 per share, for a total transaction of $37,804.38. Following the acquisition, the director owned 38,753 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,599,248.37. This represents a 0.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have bought 1,189,806 shares of company stock valued at $30,046,627 and have sold 16,850,134 shares valued at $131,641,986. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Company 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.