Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Acquired by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 46.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 79,021 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,105 shares during the period. Blackstone makes up 0.5% of Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $708,859,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,766,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,886 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $290,514,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 19,048.1% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,883,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $247,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the first 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. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone 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 transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value 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 $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $151.19 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $151.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.42, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $136.38 and a 200 day moving average of $128.34.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 115.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays raised their price target 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. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.78.

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.