Dearborn Partners LLC Purchases New Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Dearborn Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 10,494 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,235,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $6,112,162,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% during 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after purchasing an additional 179,213 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $1,364,373,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $1,275,747,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 765,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $20,000,001.54. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $206,039,270.30. This represents a 10.75% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders acquired 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.3%

Blackstone stock opened at $143.62 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. TD Cowen lifted 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. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.43.

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.