Hills Bank & Trust Co Purchases 91 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Hills Bank & Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 15,011 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,858,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Financial Advisors bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Advantage Trust Co bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of BX traded up $4.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $139.28. The stock had a trading volume of 4,886,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,504,612. The firm has a market cap 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business’s fifty day moving average is $130.98 and its 200 day moving average is $126.82. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.59 and a 52-week high of $145.16.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, 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 value of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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