Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. Boosts Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 9.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,336 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 642 shares during the quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,097,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $162.48 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $119.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $173.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $154.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 4th were given a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total transaction of $8,829,594.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 737,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $128,015,742.72. This trade represents a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone purchased 2,538,071 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 22nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.61 per share, for a total transaction of $64,999,998.31. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,506,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $192,234,012.49. The trade was a 51.09% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 3,727,877 shares of company stock worth $95,046,625 and sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $207.00 to $199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $200.00 to $199.00 in a report on Friday, October 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price objective on Blackstone from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.67.

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.