True North Advisors LLC Takes $2.19 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• True North Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Inc., purchasing 15,638 shares valued at approximately $2.19 million during the first quarter.
• Blackstone's quarterly earnings report revealed a 32.7% increase in revenue year-over-year, reaching $3.07 billion, and earnings per share of $1.21, exceeding analysts' expectations.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $1.03, up from $0.93, with a payout ratio currently at 110.75%.

True North Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,638 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,186,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,365,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 61.9% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,263 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 865 shares during the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 31,773 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,478,000 after buying an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 30,819 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,314,000 after buying an additional 2,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,275 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,214 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $170.12.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total transaction of $16,736,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 808,757 shares in the company, valued at $135,353,571.52. This represents a 11.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone purchased 1,189,532 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.22 per share, for a total transaction of $29,999,997.04. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 4,178,771 shares of the company's stock, 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. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $168.93 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $155.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 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.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. The company's revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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