Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Acquired by Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC

Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC raised its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 33.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,745 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,264 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises approximately 2.0% of Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 40,375,831 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,546,613,000 after buying an additional 1,480,848 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,495,670 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,668,954,000 after purchasing an additional 798,734 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 498.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,290,886 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,079,631,000 after purchasing an additional 10,238,110 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 11,424,857 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $847,610,000 after acquiring an additional 509,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $510,355,000. 63.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $102.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Blackstone from $105.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Blackstone from $110.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $104.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $98.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.97.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $112.67 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.97 billion, a PE ratio of 68.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.72 and a twelve month high of $112.82.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The asset manager reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. Blackstone had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 16.99%. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 347.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 191.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Multi-Asset Direct Blackstone sold 3,000,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.50, for a total transaction of $25,500,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, insider Multi-Asset Direct Blackstone sold 3,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.50, for a total value of $25,500,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Altus Holdings Lp Gso acquired 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $5.47 per share, with a total value of $246,150.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 21,116,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,505,203.75. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,398,212 shares of company stock worth $224,028,062 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.