Plato Investment Management Ltd Invests $1.38 Million in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Plato Investment Management purchased 11,761 Blackstone shares worth approximately $1.38 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own about 70% of Blackstone.
• Blackstone beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.52 in EPS and $5.04 billion in revenue, with revenue up 35.9% year over year. The company also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.29, equivalent to a 3.7% annualized yield.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with an average price target of $147.95, while recent insider activity included both significant purchases and sales.

Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 11,761 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,376,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 100,951 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $15,561,000 after acquiring an additional 8,321 shares during the period. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,340,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after buying an additional 840,258 shares during the period. Marble Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $7,303,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in Blackstone by 92.2% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 807,184 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $92,817,000 after acquiring an additional 387,109 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $140.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $105.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $127.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.45.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 115.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total transaction of $6,619,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 516,017 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $75,911,260.87. This represents a 8.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 573,614 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $15,000,006.10. Following the purchase, the insider owned 8,455,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at $221,118,071.70. This represents a 7.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and have sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. HSBC restated a "hold" rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, July 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $147.95.

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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