Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 11,543 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,358,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. United Bank raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after buying an additional 1,729 shares during the period. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $67,703,000 after acquiring an additional 8,655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, July 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of BX opened at $143.56 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Blackstone Profile

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.