Vestcor Inc Raises Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. by 99.1%, owning 26,370 shares valued at approximately $3.69 million as of the end of the 1st quarter.
• Blackstone Inc. reported robust earnings with an EPS of $1.21 for the last quarter, surpassing estimates and showing a revenue increase of 32.7% year-over-year.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03, representing an annualized yield of 2.35% and a payout ratio of 100%.

Vestcor Inc raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 99.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,370 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 13,126 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,686,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ascent Group LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 8,522 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 4,013 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,819 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,652,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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, Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its position in Blackstone by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 2,681 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded up $1.12 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $170.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,992,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,272,270. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $152.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.49. The company has a market cap of $124.40 billion, a PE ratio of 45.83, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.71.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Blackstone from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $222.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $170.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.