Blackstone Inc. $BX Stake Raised by Heard Capital LLC

Heard Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,159,720 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,325 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises 9.1% of Heard Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Heard Capital LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $173,471,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. George Kaiser Family Foundation boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 51.7% in the second quarter. George Kaiser Family Foundation now owns 2,940 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 16.0% in the second quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 27,993 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,188,000 after buying an additional 3,867 shares during the last quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 7.5% during the second quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,512 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the period. EHP Funds Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $553,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 10.3% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 25,464 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,809,000 after purchasing an additional 2,387 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BX. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $178.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $199.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Blackstone from $199.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $173.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Blackstone from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.84.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $151.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $192.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.60 billion, a PE ratio of 43.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $150.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $158.54.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.43%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $146.92 per share, with a total value of $47,602.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 39,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,741,192.84. This trade represents a 0.84% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total value of $19,852,970.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 695,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,237,547.33. The trade was a 13.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 2,950,751 shares of company stock worth $79,050,138. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Blackstone

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.