Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stake Boosted by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 207,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 3,277 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $25,649,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 36.6% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 36,215 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,741,000 after purchasing an additional 9,699 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 367,841 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $48,158,000 after buying an additional 28,856 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Blackstone by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 254,099 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,267,000 after purchasing an additional 20,830 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 431,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,455,000 after acquiring an additional 7,692 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2,072.0% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 36,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,802,000 after acquiring an additional 34,872 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $138.50 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $133.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.60. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.59 and a 12-month high of $145.16. The firm has a market cap of $98.98 billion, a PE ratio of 48.86, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.94.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.