NewEdge Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 546,382 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $64,293,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. Redwood Financial Network Corp lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.8% during the second quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $537,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. raised its position in Blackstone by 2.5% in the third quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total value of $6,619,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 516,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,911,260.87. This represents a 8.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 371 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $137.17 per share, for a total transaction of $50,890.07. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and have sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of BX opened at $145.15 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The company has a market capitalization 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.43.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. 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%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.44%.

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.