Wellington Management Group LLP Buys 3,928 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. by 2.4%, owning a total of 167,353 shares worth approximately $23.4 million as of its recent SEC filing.
• Blackstone's recent quarterly earnings report revealed an earnings per share of $1.21, exceeding analysts' expectations, and a revenue of $3.07 billion, up 32.7% from the previous year.
• The company recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.93 to $1.03, reflecting a yield of 2.4% and a payout ratio of 110.75%.

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 167,353 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 3,928 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP's holdings in Blackstone were worth $23,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 808,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $135,353,571.52. This trade represents a 11.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total value of $104,478,673.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders purchased 1,189,806 shares of company stock valued at $30,046,627 and sold 16,850,134 shares valued at $131,641,986. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of BX traded down $0.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $171.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,943,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,664,666. The company has a market cap of $126.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a fifty day moving average of $165.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $149.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 20.47% and a net margin of 20.83%.The business's revenue was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. 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%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is presently 110.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $153.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.38.

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.