William Blair Investment Management LLC Takes $4.96 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management acquired 42,124 Blackstone shares worth approximately $4.96 million in the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own about 70% of BX.
• Blackstone reported quarterly earnings of $1.52 per share, beating estimates of $1.34, while revenue rose 35.9% year over year to $5.04 billion. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $147.95.
• Blackstone increased its quarterly dividend to $1.29 per share, representing an annualized payout of $5.16 and a yield of approximately 3.6%.

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 42,124 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $4,957,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,144,000. Korea Investment CORP bought a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,595,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,069,000. Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $428,000. Finally, Bard Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $70,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone purchased 573,614 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $15,000,006.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 8,455,758 shares in the company, valued at $221,118,071.70. This represents a 7.28% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,359,783.04. This trade represents a 12.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on BX. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Blackstone to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. TD Cowen increased their price objective 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. Citizens Jmp decreased their target price on Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.1%

BX stock opened at $143.56 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm's 50-day moving average is $128.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.44. The company has a market capitalization of $107.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.44%.

Blackstone Company 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.

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