Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Sold by Raiffeisen Bank International AG

Raiffeisen Bank International AG cut its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 23.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,630 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,689 shares during the quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC now owns 8,111 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $954,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone by 1.5% during the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 300,392 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,919,000 after purchasing an additional 4,552 shares in the last quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.3% in the second quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 37,342 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,394,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.9% during the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 129,219 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $15,205,000 after acquiring an additional 8,293 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 122,455 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $14,409,000 after purchasing an additional 16,947 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $136.07 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $102.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $101.73 and a 12 month 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $132.74 and its 200-day moving average is $123.14.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company’s revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BX. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, July 20th. Argus lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.43.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $4,066,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $137.17 per share, for a total transaction of $50,890.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 42,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,787,065.13. This trade represents a 0.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, 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.

About Blackstone

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.