Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Purchased by NEOS Investment Management LLC

NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 122,455 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 16,947 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $14,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $221,478,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $8,667,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 100,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,561,000 after acquiring an additional 8,321 shares during the period. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth about $1,340,000. Finally, Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,303,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BX. Argus increased their price target on Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays increased their target price on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.43.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $136.07 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $102.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.44, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.56. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted 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. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.44%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 371 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $137.17 per share, for a total transaction of $50,890.07. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 42,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,787,065.13. The trade was a 0.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone acquired 272,642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $7,126,861.88. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 8,704,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,533,512.66. This trade represents a 3.23% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 1,611,822 shares of company stock valued at $42,189,294 and have 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.