Heartland Bank & Trust Co Invests $428,000 in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Heartland Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 3,641 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $70,000. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $1,358,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth $25,166,000. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,841,000. Finally, Lalia Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth $10,714,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $143.56 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $128.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.57. 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 stock has a market cap of $107.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 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 company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Argus increased their target price on Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 573,614 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $15,000,006.10. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 8,455,758 shares in the company, valued at $221,118,071.70. The trade was a 7.28% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the business’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 directly owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,359,783.04. This trade represents a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.