William Blair Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 42,124 Blackstone Inc. $BX

William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 42,124 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $4,957,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $6,112,162,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,275,747,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $514,736,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $983,690,000 after acquiring an additional 3,178,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth $270,380,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX opened at $143.56 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $128.82 and a 200-day moving average of $122.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The company has a market cap of $107.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $4,066,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value of $28,264,950.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone 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.