Torray Investment Partners LLC Purchases 10,376 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

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Torray Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 44.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,697 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 10,376 shares during the period. Torray Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 105.4% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 13,405 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,874,000 after purchasing an additional 6,878 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,109,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 6.6% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,212 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,363,000 after buying an additional 1,943 shares during the last quarter. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $1,747,000. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management raised its position in Blackstone by 34.3% during the first quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 64,614 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,032,000 after purchasing an additional 16,486 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Saturday, July 19th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $219.00 to $207.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $170.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 475,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,819,775.92. This trade represents a 5.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 237 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $136.33 per share, for a total transaction of $32,310.21. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 37,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of BX stock traded down $2.54 on Friday, reaching $170.42. 3,662,374 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,887,348. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $152.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.35 billion, a PE ratio of 45.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.70. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

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, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be issued a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

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.