Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 1.6%, now holding approximately $9.50 billion worth of shares, representing about 9.32% of the company's stock.
• Blackstone announced a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, up from the previous $0.93, reflecting a 2.5% yield and a dividend payout ratio of 110.75%.
• The company reported a **32.7% year-over-year revenue increase**, with earnings per share of **$1.21**, exceeding analysts' expectations of **$1.10** for the last quarter.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,997,581 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 1,102,949 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.32% of Blackstone worth $9,504,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BX. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 16.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 5,292,320 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $739,761,000 after purchasing an additional 742,829 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.1% in the first quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 25,749 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,599,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 44,742 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $6,254,000 after acquiring an additional 6,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 5.1% during the first quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,235 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of BX traded up $1.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $168.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,278,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,909,915. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company's fifty day moving average price is $155.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.51. The stock has a market cap of $123.26 billion, a PE ratio of 45.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.71.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BX. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler increased 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. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $170.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.36, for a total value of $16,736,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 808,757 shares of the company's stock, valued at $135,353,571.52. This represents a 11.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone acquired 1,189,532 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.22 per share, with a total value of $29,999,997.04. Following the transaction, the insider directly 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. 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.