Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Bought by Vaughan David Investments LLC IL

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL raised its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 65.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,727 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,473 shares during the period. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $490,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 86.2% during the fourth quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 216 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Down 4.2 %

Blackstone stock traded down $5.99 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $137.63. 4,450,036 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,552,665. The company’s 50-day moving average is $125.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.77. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.59 and a 52-week high of $145.16. The firm has a market cap of $98.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.63, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.50.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 117.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus raised their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a 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 report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.56.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 219 shares of the company’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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 34,445 shares in the company, valued at $4,115,488.60. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Ruth Porat bought 219 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $4,115,488.60. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.