Qtron Investments LLC Has $641,000 Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Qtron Investments LLC reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 44.8%, selling 3,730 shares during the first quarter, leaving them with 4,589 shares valued at approximately $641,000.
• Blackstone's latest quarterly earnings report showed a 32.7% revenue increase year-over-year, with earnings per share of $1.21, outperforming estimates.
• Blackstone has recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03 per share, reflecting a 2.4% yield and a payout ratio of 110.75%.

Qtron Investments LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 44.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,589 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,730 shares during the quarter. Qtron Investments LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BX. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 4.2%

Shares of BX traded up $6.8030 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $170.2430. 5,187,162 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,648,507. The company has a market cap of $125.48 billion, a PE ratio of 45.76, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.71. The firm's 50 day moving average is $161.69 and its 200-day moving average is $149.76. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week 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.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted 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. Barclays boosted their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Saturday, July 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $170.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone purchased 1,189,532 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.22 per share, with a total value of $29,999,997.04. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 4,178,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,388,604.62. The trade was a 39.79% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total value of $104,478,673.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and have sold 16,850,134 shares worth $131,641,986. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.