105,000 Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX Acquired by Fidelity National Financial Inc.

Fidelity National Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 105,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $12,355,000. Blackstone comprises 0.4% of Fidelity National Financial Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after purchasing an additional 840,258 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $6,112,162,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Blackstone by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,065,374,000 after acquiring an additional 636,613 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after purchasing an additional 179,213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,538,067 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,326,762,000 after purchasing an additional 384,264 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,233.72. This trade represents a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 765,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $20,000,001.54. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at $206,039,270.30. The trade was a 10.75% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $140.62 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $127.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $105.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.46, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $1.29 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Argus increased their target price on Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Jmp dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.