Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Acquired by Sheets Smith Wealth Management

Sheets Smith Wealth Management raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 55.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,149 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,761 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,900,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Redwood Financial Network Corp increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% in the second quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.1% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Brogan Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 2.5% in the third quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $616,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $142.63 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.91, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.92.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for 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%.Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. The trade was a 12.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $137.17 per share, with a total value of $50,890.07. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 42,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,787,065.13. The trade was a 0.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Citizens Jmp reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $140.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.43.

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.