Central Bank & Trust Co. Has $84,000 Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 50.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 682 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 228 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $84,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its stake in Blackstone by 36.6% in the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 36,215 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,741,000 after buying an additional 9,699 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 367,841 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $48,158,000 after purchasing an additional 28,856 shares during the last quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 0.8% in the first quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 20,165 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,649,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 254,099 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,267,000 after acquiring an additional 20,830 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 431,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,455,000 after acquiring an additional 7,692 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $134.29. The stock had a trading volume of 584,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,517,316. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.59 and a 12 month high of $145.16. The company’s 50-day moving average is $129.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.97 billion, a PE ratio of 47.45, a PEG 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of several research reports. Argus upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price target on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen raised their price target 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.