Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Holdings Decreased by Renaissance Investment Group LLC

Key Points

• Renaissance Investment Group LLC has reduced its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 16.9%, selling 1,542 shares and retaining 7,580 shares valued at $1,060,000.
• Blackstone recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03 per share, reflecting a 2.33% yield.
• Research firms have raised their target prices for Blackstone, with JMP Securities increasing it from $180 to $195, indicating a positive outlook for the company.

Renaissance Investment Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 16.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,580 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 1,542 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone purchased 1,189,532 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, valued at $105,388,604.62. This represents a 39.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 237 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $136.33 per share, with a total value of $32,310.21. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at $5,053,344.11. This trade represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BX. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $170.12.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX traded down $3.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $169.76. 2,372,233 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,279,386. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.86 billion, a PE ratio of 45.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.65. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $151.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.84. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

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.