RFG Advisory LLC Boosts Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

RFG Advisory LLC raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 124.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,548 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,965 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Blackstone by 12,011.3% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 130,414,132 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,345,831,000 after buying an additional 129,337,339 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $6,112,162,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $1,364,373,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,275,747,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $605,267,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, July 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Citizens Jmp decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total transaction of $6,619,950.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 516,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,911,260.87. This trade represents a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 765,111 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at $206,039,270.30. This trade represents a 10.75% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $128.48 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $133.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.23. The company has a market capitalization of $96.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.44%.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment management and advisory services to institutions, corporations, and individual investors. The company invests across multiple asset classes, including private equity, real estate, credit, infrastructure, insurance solutions, and hedge fund solutions.

Its investment activities include acquiring and managing businesses, commercial and residential properties, infrastructure assets, and credit investments.