Haverford Trust Co Buys Shares of 7,562 Blackstone Inc. $BX

Haverford Trust Co purchased a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,562 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $890,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.6%

NYSE:BX opened at $143.56 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The company has a market cap of $107.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 1.59 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 has a 50-day moving average of $128.82 and a 200-day moving average of $122.57.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $1.29 dividend. 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. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 115.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone purchased 765,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at $206,039,270.30. This trade represents a 10.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total transaction of $1,379,685.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.