Regents of The University of California Invests $74.18 Million in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Regents of The University of California acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 645,120 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $74,182,000. Blackstone makes up approximately 2.5% of Regents of The University of California’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Financial Network Corp increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,748 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,935 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,686,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Trivium Point Advisory LLC now owns 2,713 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management raised its holdings in Blackstone by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 3,453 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $590,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 19,374 shares in the company, valued at $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone purchased 573,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $15,000,006.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 8,455,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $221,118,071.70. The trade was a 7.28% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought 10,825,959 shares of company stock worth $224,789,900 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $128.18 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $95.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $121.67 and its 200 day moving average is $123.87. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company’s revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BX shares. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Blackstone from $215.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 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 given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.