Scotia Capital Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Scotia Capital Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 65.7% in the first quarter, owning a total of 120,523 shares valued at approximately $16.85 million.
• Blackstone announced a quarterly dividend increase to $1.03 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 2.4%, effective from August 11th.
• An earnings report showed Blackstone achieved $1.21 EPS, surpassing estimates and marking a 32.7% revenue increase year-over-year.

Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 65.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 120,523 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 47,778 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in Blackstone were worth $16,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BX. Ascent Group LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,469,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,819 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,652,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,466 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,460,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised 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 buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.5%

BX stock opened at $170.42 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $124.35 billion, a PE ratio of 45.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.74. The firm's fifty day moving average is $152.55 and its 200 day moving average is $150.49. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's payout ratio is 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on BX shares. Barclays upped 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. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $170.12.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.47, for a total transaction of $3,461,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 475,336 shares of the company's stock, valued at $65,819,775.92. The trade was a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone purchased 1,189,532 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 4,178,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,388,604.62. This trade represents a 39.79% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

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.

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