Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Acquired by RFG Advisory LLC

RFG Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 124.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,548 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,965 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,476,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. United Bank grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 14.7% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,024,000 after buying an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,703,000 after acquiring an additional 8,655 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total transaction of $1,379,685.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at $9,359,783.04. The trade was a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $4,066,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and have sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $128.48 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $133.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.23. The company has a market cap of $96.44 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 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.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued 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. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of several research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp cut their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $149.43.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc is a global alternative asset management firm that provides investment management and advisory services to institutions, corporations, and individual investors. The company invests across multiple asset classes, including private equity, real estate, credit, infrastructure, insurance solutions, and hedge fund solutions.

Its investment activities include acquiring and managing businesses, commercial and residential properties, infrastructure assets, and credit investments.