Vestor Capital LLC Has $125,000 Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Vestor Capital nearly exited Blackstone in the first quarter, selling 244,995 shares and retaining just 1,091 shares valued at approximately $125,000.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95, compared with Blackstone’s reported share price of $128.18.
• Blackstone reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.52 and revenue of $5.04 billion, while increasing its quarterly dividend to $1.29 per share, or an annualized yield of about 4%.

Vestor Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 99.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,091 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 244,995 shares during the quarter. Vestor Capital LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $125,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $1,275,747,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Blackstone by 99.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $983,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,178,133 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth about $164,597,000. Amundi raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 85.6% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,709,345 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $417,620,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 476.1% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,324,168 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $204,193,000 after buying an additional 1,094,307 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. HSBC reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Blackstone to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $128.18 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone's payout ratio is presently 103.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 41,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. This represents a 0.86% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone purchased 9,486,795 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. The trade was a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 10,825,959 shares of company stock worth $224,789,900. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Profile

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.