4,446 Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX Acquired by Payne Capital Management LLC

Payne Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,446 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $523,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $6,112,162,000. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,065,374,000 after buying an additional 636,613 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Blackstone by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,861,885,000 after acquiring an additional 179,213 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,364,373,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,275,747,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $143.25 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.68. 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 capitalization of $107.53 billion, a PE ratio of 32.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm’s revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.44%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $4,066,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value of $28,264,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and have sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Company 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.