Summit X LLC Increases Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Summit X LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 66.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,516 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Summit X LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $376,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 6.4% during the first quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,104 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.5% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 39,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,507,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. TFR Capital LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth $273,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 2.2% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 44,433 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,211,000 after buying an additional 968 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.8%

BX stock opened at $146.00 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a market cap of $107.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.71, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $165.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $157.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter. The company 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 research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 147.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of several research reports. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $178.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $166.00 price target on shares of Blackstone and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. HSBC reduced their target price on Blackstone from $179.00 to $178.00 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Blackstone from $200.00 to $199.00 in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the 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 sale, the director owned 695,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,237,547.33. This trade represents a 13.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone purchased 2,538,071 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.61 per share, with a total value of $64,999,998.31. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 7,506,209 shares in the company, valued at $192,234,012.49. This trade represents a 51.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 2,565,141 shares of company stock valued at $68,991,351 and sold 16,875,234 shares valued at $136,847,628. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Blackstone

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.