Insider Buying: Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Director Buys $50,890.07 in Stock

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Director Ruth Porat bought 371 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $137.17 per share, for a total transaction of $50,890.07. Following the purchase, the director owned 42,189 shares in the company, valued at $5,787,065.13. The trade was a 0.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Ruth Porat also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 10th, Ruth Porat bought 84 shares of Blackstone stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $137.32 per share, with a total value of $11,534.88.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX opened at $143.94 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.04 billion, a PE ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $126.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.70.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,046,859,000 after acquiring an additional 840,258 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $6,112,162,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 636,613 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after purchasing an additional 179,213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,538,067 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,326,762,000 after buying an additional 384,264 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.