24,324 Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX Purchased by Principle Wealth Partners LLC

Principle Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 24,324 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,862,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,701,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $213,126,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,795,000. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,376,000. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth $30,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Argus increased their price objective on Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.95.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $137.17 per share, with a total value of $50,890.07. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 42,189 shares in the company, valued at $5,787,065.13. This trade represents a 0.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $4,066,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at $117,883,632.95. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 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 insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $140.87 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.45. The stock has a market cap of $105.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The firm 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 was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 115.44%.

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.