Blackstone Inc. $BX Holdings Cut by Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas

Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas cut its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,722 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,430 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up 1.5% of Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas’ portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas’ holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Palladiem LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 26,600.0% in the 2nd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 267 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $4,066,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone purchased 272,642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $7,126,861.88. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 8,704,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,533,512.66. This represents a 3.23% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 1,611,822 shares of company stock valued at $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Blackstone from $140.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.43.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $143.32 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $131.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.93. The firm has a market cap of $107.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.06, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.55.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 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.