PeakShares LLC Makes New $1.01 Million Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

PeakShares LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,528 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,006,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing 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 worth $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted 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 worth $67,703,000 after buying an additional 8,655 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $123.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The company has a fifty day moving average of $121.11 and a 200-day moving average of $130.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.59.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.67% and a return on equity of 22.86%. The business had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.67%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the transaction, the insider owned 899,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,169,363.51. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Treasury Holdings I. Blackstone acquired 9,486,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $189,735,900.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 9,111,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,236,000. This represents a -2,529.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders acquired a total of 9,487,234 shares of company stock valued at $189,789,892 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BX. Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Argus decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $118.00 to $116.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $150.86.

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.