MSH Capital Advisors LLC Takes $872,000 Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

MSH Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 7,412 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $872,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Latash Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $915,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $832,000. United Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,986,000. CM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $375,000. Finally, Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $203,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $4,066,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total transaction of $6,619,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 516,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,911,260.87. The trade was a 8.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BX shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of BX stock opened at $145.15 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $127.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $108.95 billion, a PE ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.Blackstone’s revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.44%.

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.