11,710 Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX Purchased by MidFirst Bank

MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,710 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,378,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Palladiem LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 26,600.0% in the second quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 267 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 573,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $15,000,006.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,455,758 shares in the company, valued at $221,118,071.70. The trade was a 7.28% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total value of $6,619,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 516,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,911,260.87. This represents a 8.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, 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. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of BX opened at $140.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $127.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $105.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.95.

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.