L2 Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 4,442 Blackstone Inc. $BX

L2 Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $523,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $6,112,162,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 179,213 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Blackstone by 3.4% during 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. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,275,747,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BX. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citizens Jmp cut 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, 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. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:BX opened at $143.34 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $129.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.57.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued 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 company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.44%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total transaction of $1,379,685.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. This trade represents a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total value of $6,619,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 516,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,911,260.87. This represents a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and have sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.