EFG International AG Invests $5.40 Million in Blackstone Inc. $BX

EFG International AG acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 45,912 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $5,397,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Palladiem LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on BX shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,359,783.04. The trade was a 12.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were 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 owned 516,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,911,260.87. The trade was a 8.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 1,611,822 shares of company stock valued at $42,189,294 and have sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $143.34 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $129.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.57. The firm has a market cap of $107.60 billion, a PE ratio of 32.07, a PEG ratio of 1.57 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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