Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Invests $819,000 in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,959 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $819,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc acquired a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $141.50 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $122.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.66, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price objective on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.95.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,233.72. This represents a 99.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 869,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,883,632.95. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders acquired 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.