Flossbach Von Storch SE Acquires New Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Flossbach Von Storch SE purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 45,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $5,295,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Palladiem LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 26,600.0% during the second quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 267 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 765,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.14 per share, with a total value of $20,000,001.54. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 7,882,145 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $206,039,270.30. This represents a 10.75% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and have sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 3.2%

NYSE:BX opened at $145.15 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.43. The firm has a market cap of $108.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.73 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09. 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 (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The firm’s revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BX. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Argus lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Profile

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.