Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Purchased by AMG National Trust Bank

AMG National Trust Bank increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 462.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,642 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 7,106 shares during the quarter. AMG National Trust Bank’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Family CFO Inc purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $173.00 to $161.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Blackstone from $154.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.52.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE BX opened at $127.03 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.08. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.37 billion, a PE ratio of 32.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.86% and a net margin of 20.67%.The business’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total value of $3,775,461.06. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $123.04 per share, for a total transaction of $43,679.20. Following the acquisition, the director owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,145,286.72. The trade was a 0.86% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders acquired a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.