SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,780 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $963,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 27,680 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,624,000 after buying an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 9,044 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,184,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $668,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 56,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,408,000 after purchasing an additional 6,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aveo Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $217,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.94.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’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 value of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of BX stock traded down $1.15 on Friday, hitting $137.12. The stock had a trading volume of 2,577,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,467,962. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $134.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.67. The company has a market cap of $97.99 billion, a PE ratio of 48.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.50. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $88.59 and a one year high of $145.16.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.90%.

About Blackstone

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.