Odyssean LLC Buys Shares of 24,211 Blackstone Inc. $BX

Odyssean LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 24,211 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,849,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,112,162,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,275,747,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $605,267,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $514,736,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 99.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $983,690,000 after buying an additional 3,178,133 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at $73,233.72. This trade represents a 99.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of Blackstone 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 completion of 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, 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. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on BX shares. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Zacks Research raised Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $143.34 on Wednesday. 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 market cap of $107.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $129.51 and its 200-day moving average is $122.57.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its 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. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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