Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Purchased by Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 411.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 314,318 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 252,868 shares during the quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $36,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,112,162,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth $1,364,373,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $1,275,747,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $605,267,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $514,736,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone purchased 272,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $7,126,861.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 8,704,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,533,512.66. This represents a 3.23% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders bought 1,611,822 shares of company stock valued at $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on BX shares. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target 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. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Zacks Research raised Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.43.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of BX opened at $142.63 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. The company’s fifty day moving average is $130.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.86. The firm has a market cap of $107.06 billion, a PE ratio of 31.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

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, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.