Simplicity Wealth LLC Purchases Shares of 9,065 Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased 9,065 Blackstone shares worth approximately $1.07 million, while institutional investors collectively own 70% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Blackstone carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $147.95.
• Blackstone reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, including $1.52 in EPS and $5.04 billion in revenue, while raising its quarterly dividend to $1.29 per share.

Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,065 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,067,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Financial Network Corp raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% during the second quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $537,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,748 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,194,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management increased its stake in Blackstone by 2.1% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brogan Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Blackstone from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $143.94 on Monday. The business's 50 day moving average is $126.51 and its 200-day moving average is $122.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.04 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 765,111 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $206,039,270.30. This trade represents a 10.75% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $4,066,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and have sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone's business is organized around several principal investment platforms.

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