Pegasus Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Pegasus Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 18.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,925 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Pegasus Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BX. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Down 4.2%

BX stock opened at $153.88 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.42 billion, a PE ratio of 41.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. Equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 110.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $207.00 to $199.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $181.00 to $171.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $194.00 to $188.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $166.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total transaction of $19,852,970.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 695,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $122,237,547.33. This represents a 13.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 2,538,071 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.61 per share, for a total transaction of $64,999,998.31. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 7,506,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $192,234,012.49. This trade represents a 51.09% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 3,727,877 shares of company stock valued at $95,046,625 and have sold 16,984,634 shares valued at $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.