Insider Buying: Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Major Shareholder Purchases 2,868,069 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Major insider purchase: Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 2,868,069 shares on March 20 at an average price of $26.15, spending about $75.0 million and raising its holdings to 18,628,295 shares (an 18.2% increase), now valued at roughly $487.13 million.
• Strong financials and shareholder return: Blackstone beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $1.75 and revenue of $4.36 billion (up 41.4% YoY) and recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.49 (annualized $5.96), a 5.5% yield.

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 2,868,069 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $75,000,004.35. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 18,628,295 shares in the company, valued at $487,129,914.25. The trade was a 18.20% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company's stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, February 23rd, Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 1,146,789 shares of Blackstone stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.16 per share, with a total value of $30,000,000.24.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock traded down $1.12 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $109.31. 8,762,547 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,431,519. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The company has a market cap of $81.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.80. The company's 50 day moving average price is $130.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $148.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $1.49 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is 153.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,046,859,000 after acquiring an additional 840,258 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Blackstone by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 636,613 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after buying an additional 179,213 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $1,275,747,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 4.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,324,989 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,251,474,000 after acquiring an additional 329,379 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $126.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Blackstone from $164.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $137.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $165.86.

About Blackstone

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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