Lalia Capital LLC Buys Shares of 91,047 Blackstone Inc. $BX

Lalia Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 91,047 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $10,714,000. Blackstone accounts for approximately 5.2% of Lalia Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $4,066,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,883,632.95. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 371 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $137.17 per share, with a total value of $50,890.07. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 42,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,787,065.13. This represents a 0.89% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, 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. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.6%

Blackstone stock opened at $143.56 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $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.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

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.