Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Purchases New Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 4,069 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $479,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter worth $34,000. Palladiem LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total value of $6,619,950.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 516,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,911,260.87. This trade represents a 8.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone bought 573,614 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $26.15 per share, for a total transaction of $15,000,006.10. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 8,455,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $221,118,071.70. This represents a 7.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and have sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE BX opened at $140.62 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.41. The firm has a market cap of $105.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.46, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.55. 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 released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. 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 presently 115.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced 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. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Blackstone from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered their price target on 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 analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.95.

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.