Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 121,723 Blackstone Inc. $BX

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 121,723 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $13,984,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Redwood Financial Network Corp increased its holdings in Blackstone by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $537,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% during the third quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.5% in the third quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. now owns 2,904 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $496,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Founders Financial Securities LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 1,928 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $142.63 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The company had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research 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. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BX. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen investment 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 company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.43.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,233.72. This represents a 99.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 value of $4,066,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, 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. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.