Oak Ridge Investments LLC Buys New Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Oak Ridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,855 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290,324 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Blackstone by 7.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,766,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546,886 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,429,749 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $841,783,000 after buying an additional 322,860 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $708,859,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,670,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $613,581,000 after purchasing an additional 21,450 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of BX traded up $0.84 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $137.00. The company had a trading volume of 2,064,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,524,344. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.59 and a 1-year high of $145.16. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $128.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.30. The stock has a market cap of $97.91 billion, a PE ratio of 48.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.50.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on BX shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Argus raised their price objective on Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.65.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.