OLD Second National Bank of Aurora Buys 3,244 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

OLD Second National Bank of Aurora lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 9.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,032 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,244 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for 1.3% of OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $5,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BX. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 36,215 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,741,000 after acquiring an additional 9,699 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 367,841 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $48,158,000 after buying an additional 28,856 shares in the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.8% during the first quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 20,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,649,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 20,830 shares during the period. Finally, Norden Group LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 2,072.0% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 36,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,802,000 after purchasing an additional 34,872 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of Blackstone stock traded up $2.35 on Friday, hitting $128.96. The stock had a trading volume of 1,050,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,413,504. The stock has a market cap of $92.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.74, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $88.59 and a one year high of $133.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The asset manager reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.84% and a return on equity of 17.33%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.97 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.7 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th were issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 26th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.31%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related 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 approximately $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the director now owns 34,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,115,488.60. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BX shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $117.00 to $114.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Argus lifted their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Blackstone from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.00.

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.