United Bank Takes $1.99 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

United Bank acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 16,880 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,986,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth $6,112,162,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $1,275,747,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $514,736,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Blackstone by 99.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,381,767 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $983,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,178,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $270,380,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total value of $6,619,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 516,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,911,260.87. This represents a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. The trade was a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and have sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Citizens Jmp decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Trading Up 3.2%

NYSE BX opened at $145.15 on Thursday. 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 one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $127.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.47, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a 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 115.44%.

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.