Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Grows Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 135,824 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 3,636 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $20,316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $160.57 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.36 billion, a PE ratio of 43.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.23.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 110.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total transaction of $104,478,673.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total transaction of $8,829,594.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 737,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $128,015,742.72. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 2,538,345 shares of company stock worth $65,046,628 and have sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $207.00 to $199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $160.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.26.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.