Kentucky Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co Takes Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Kentucky Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 25,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,942,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $145.15 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $127.99 and a 200-day moving average of $122.43. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The firm has a market cap of $108.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $9,359,783.04. The trade was a 12.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders bought 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. Corporate 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.