Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC Takes $2.55 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 21,664 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,549,000. Blackstone comprises 1.6% of Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of BX. Redwood Financial Network Corp boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% during the second quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management raised its stake in Blackstone by 2.1% in the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $496,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 64,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of Blackstone 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 sale, the insider directly owned 516,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,911,260.87. This trade represents a 8.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and have sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $143.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.05, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $129.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.68.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. 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 3.6%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 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.