44,901 Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX Acquired by Global Retirement Partners LLC

Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 44,901 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $5,283,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Palladiem LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 26,600.0% in the second quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 267 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total transaction of $1,379,685.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. The trade was a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total value of $6,619,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 516,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,911,260.87. This represents a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. 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. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $143.94 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $108.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.55. The business’s 50 day moving average is $126.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.51. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The business’s revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Blackstone’s payout ratio 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.