Jupiter Topco LLC Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,882,354 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $221,478,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. EFG International AG bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $5,397,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $15,709,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $115,090,000. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $2,058,000. Finally, White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $2,044,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $143.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.05, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.68. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is presently 115.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $4,066,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on BX shares. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, July 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Argus lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

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.