Catalina Capital Group LLC Acquires New Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Catalina Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,738 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock traded up $4.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $139.28. 4,886,915 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,504,612. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $145.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $130.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.79. 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 (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.65.

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.