Blackstone Inc. $BX is Quantbot Technologies LP's Largest Position

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 1,071.7% during Q1, making Blackstone the largest position in its investment portfolio, valued at approximately $33.38 million.
• Blackstone recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.03 per share, yielding 2.4%, reflecting a growth from the previous dividend of $0.93.
• Analysts have varied outlooks on Blackstone's stock, with target prices ranging from $167.00 to $192.00, while maintaining a general average rating of "Hold" and a price target of $170.12.

Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1,071.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 238,823 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 218,440 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for about 1.1% of Quantbot Technologies LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Quantbot Technologies LP's holdings in Blackstone were worth $33,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Blackstone by 2.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 167,353 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $23,393,000 after purchasing an additional 3,928 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Family Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth about $249,000. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 6.4% during the first quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,011 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the period. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 3,540 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 38.5% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,548 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total value of $104,478,673.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,400 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.97, for a total value of $1,597,718.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 54,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,261,325.36. This trade represents a 14.71% 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 worth $30,046,627 and have sold 16,850,134 shares worth $131,641,986. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Saturday, July 19th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target 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. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $170.12.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock traded up $6.8030 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $170.2430. 5,186,368 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,252,785. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $161.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $149.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $125.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS 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 company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same period 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

About Blackstone

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.