Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 9,454 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,113,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,046,859,000 after buying an additional 840,258 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Blackstone by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,065,374,000 after acquiring an additional 636,613 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,861,885,000 after acquiring an additional 179,213 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,538,067 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,326,762,000 after purchasing an additional 384,264 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,275,747,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $140.62 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The firm has a market cap of $105.56 billion, a PE ratio of 31.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.55. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.95.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 is accessible through this link. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,359,783.04. This trade represents a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.