MSH Capital Advisors LLC Takes $872,000 Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

MSH Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 7,412 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $872,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 100,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,561,000 after acquiring an additional 8,321 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter worth $1,340,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 840,258 shares during the period. Marble Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $7,303,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in Blackstone by 92.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 807,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $92,817,000 after buying an additional 387,109 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total transaction of $1,379,685.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. This trade represents a 12.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 516,017 shares in the company, valued at $75,911,260.87. This represents a 8.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday, June 8th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Argus raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered their price objective 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. 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, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.95.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $145.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.95 billion, a PE ratio of 32.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $101.73 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $127.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 115.44%.

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.