Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 158,835 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 4,514 shares during the period. Blackstone accounts for approximately 1.8% of Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $19,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $708,859,000. Capital World Investors lifted 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 worth $4,766,875,000 after buying an additional 2,546,886 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $290,514,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 19,048.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,883,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $247,423,000 after buying an additional 1,873,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after buying an additional 1,290,324 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on BX shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.94.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

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

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded up $3.09 on Monday, hitting $140.21. The company had a trading volume of 243,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,448,681. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $100.96 billion, a PE ratio of 48.45, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.59 and a 52 week high of $145.16.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.90%.

Blackstone Company 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.