Sandy Cove Advisors LLC Purchases 2,182 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Sandy Cove Advisors LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 22.1%, now owning 12,042 shares valued at approximately $1.8 million.
• Blackstone recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03, raising it from the previous $0.93, representing an annualized yield of 2.2%.
• Wall Street analysts have given Blackstone a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target averaging around $172.38.

Sandy Cove Advisors LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 22.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,042 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 2,182 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up approximately 0.7% of Sandy Cove Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,801,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,762 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,819 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,652,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH grew its position in Blackstone by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Park National Corp OH now owns 2,334 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $349,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,075 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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 research note on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted 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. Nine research 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 presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $172.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 222 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $170.29 per share, for a total transaction of $37,804.38. Following the purchase, the director owned 38,753 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,599,248.37. The trade was a 0.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.97, for a total transaction of $1,597,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 54,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,261,325.36. This represents a 14.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 1,189,806 shares of company stock worth $30,046,627 and have sold 16,871,634 shares worth $135,328,376. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE BX opened at $183.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $170.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.65. The company has a market capitalization of $135.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. Blackstone's quarterly revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 110.75%.

Blackstone 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.

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