Nicholas Company Inc. Takes Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Nicholas Company Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 28,285 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $4,231,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BX. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Blackstone from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Blackstone from $207.00 to $199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Blackstone from $173.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total value of $8,829,594.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 737,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $128,015,742.72. This represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total value of $19,852,970.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 695,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $122,237,547.33. The trade was a 13.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 2,551,515 shares of company stock worth $67,038,327 and have sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $146.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $107.94 billion, a PE ratio of 41.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%. On average, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be issued a $1.29 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 147.43%.

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.