Csenge Advisory Group Acquires New Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Csenge Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,783 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $916,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,046,859,000 after acquiring an additional 840,258 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,112,162,000. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $5,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 636,613 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,861,885,000 after purchasing an additional 179,213 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Blackstone by 3.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,538,067 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,326,762,000 after buying an additional 384,264 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Jmp decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total value of $6,619,950.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 516,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $75,911,260.87. This trade represents a 8.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $4,066,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 869,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,883,632.95. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and have sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX opened at $145.15 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $127.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.43. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The stock has a market cap of $108.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $5.04 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 115.44%.

Blackstone 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.