Plato Investment Management Ltd Makes New Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 11,761 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,376,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Palladiem LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat purchased 371 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $137.17 per share, for a total transaction of $50,890.07. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $4,066,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at $117,883,632.95. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and have sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock opened at $140.87 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $127.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.44%.

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.