Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Takes Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 29,446 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $3,465,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. United Bank grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 14.7% during the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after buying an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Blackstone by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,703,000 after acquiring an additional 8,655 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $143.34 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. 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 $107.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.07, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $129.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.57.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company’s revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total transaction of $1,379,685.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 371 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $5,787,065.13. This represents a 0.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.