Waverly Advisors LLC Buys 7,246 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,297 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,246 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $17,097,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $30,000. NBH Bank bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Blackstone from $140.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.43.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $133.89 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $100.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.56. The business’s 50 day moving average is $133.50 and its 200 day moving average is $123.14. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 115.44%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 765,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $206,039,270.30. This represents a 10.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,233.72. This trade represents a 99.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 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 owned by corporate insiders.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment management and advisory services to institutions, corporations, and individual investors. The company invests across multiple asset classes, including private equity, real estate, credit, infrastructure, insurance solutions, and hedge fund solutions.

Its investment activities include acquiring and managing businesses, commercial and residential properties, infrastructure assets, and credit investments.