Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. Grows Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,020 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BX. Northwest Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other 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 $56,567,311.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 value of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.94.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded up $1.78 during trading on Friday, reaching $142.36. 3,421,587 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,139,617. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.59 and a 12-month high of $145.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $102.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.30, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $132.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.30.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.90%.

Blackstone 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.