Zuckerman Investment Group LLC Makes New $414,000 Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Key Points

• Zuckerman Investment Group LLC has invested approximately $414,000 in Blackstone Inc. by acquiring 2,959 shares, marking the establishment of a new position in the firm.
• Blackstone recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 per share, up from the previous $0.93, indicating confidence in its financial health.
• Analysts have a generally positive outlook on Blackstone, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $170.12.

Zuckerman Investment Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,959 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $414,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 175,256 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $24,497,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 232,594 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $32,512,000 after purchasing an additional 4,263 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 17.8% in the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 38,293 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,352,000 after purchasing an additional 5,787 shares during the last quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. ICONIQ Capital LLC now owns 3,214 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $449,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,906,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total transaction of $104,478,673.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings I. L.P. Blackstone bought 1,189,532 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $25.22 per share, with a total value of $29,999,997.04. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 4,178,771 shares in the company, valued at $105,388,604.62. This trade represents a 39.79% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 1,189,806 shares of company stock valued at $30,046,627 and have sold 16,850,134 shares valued at $131,641,986. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:BX traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $171.59. The company had a trading volume of 1,943,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,664,666. The business's 50 day moving average price is $165.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $149.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $126.47 billion, a PE ratio of 46.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. The company 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 business's revenue was up 32.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were issued a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective 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. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $170.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $181.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.