Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.16

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be given a dividend of 1.16 per share by the asset manager on Monday, May 11th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 4th.

Blackstone has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.2%per year over the last three years. Blackstone has a dividend payout ratio of 72.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Blackstone to earn $7.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.64 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 60.4%.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE BX traded up $0.98 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $126.56. The company had a trading volume of 5,647,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,265,798. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $115.95 and a 200 day moving average of $137.27. Blackstone has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.74.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The company had revenue of $3.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.51, for a total transaction of $26,246,039.04. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 25,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $90,670.32. This represents a 99.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 9,103,660 shares of company stock valued at $45,982,920 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Redwood Financial Network Corp increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% in the second quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners increased its stake in Blackstone by 2.3% in the third quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners now owns 2,993 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 0.4% in the third quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 15,116 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 4.5% in the third quarter. Lazari Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,578 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $270,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,748 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.