Kestra Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 11.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157,262 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 15,610 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $20,659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Blackstone by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,442,227,000 after buying an additional 1,290,324 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Blackstone by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,886 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,429,749 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $841,783,000 after acquiring an additional 322,860 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $708,859,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 13,816.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,623,868 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,744,370,000 after acquiring an additional 3,597,828 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX traded up $1.98 on Friday, hitting $142.00. 3,262,890 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,826,148. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $125.80 and its 200 day moving average is $125.02. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $145.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.50.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th will be given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 117.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Argus raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.56.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 219 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,115,488.60. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $119.48 per share, for a total transaction of $26,166.12. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,115,488.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.