Old North State Trust LLC Makes New $1.54 Million Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Old North State Trust LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 13,075 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,539,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Palladiem LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on BX. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. HSBC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.43.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.3%

BX stock opened at $143.62 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The stock has a market cap of $107.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company’s 50 day moving average is $130.28 and its 200 day moving average is $122.78.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The company’s revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. 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 currently 115.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 371 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $137.17 per share, for a total transaction of $50,890.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 42,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,787,065.13. The trade was a 0.89% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and have sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.