Empowered Funds LLC Raises Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 60.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 242,487 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 91,504 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $27,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Family CFO Inc bought a new position in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, Director Ruth Porat bought 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $123.04 per share, with a total value of $43,679.20. Following the purchase, the director owned 41,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,145,286.72. This trade represents a 0.86% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone purchased 765,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at $206,039,270.30. This represents a 10.75% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have bought a total of 10,252,345 shares of company stock worth $209,789,893 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $132.42 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $101.73 and a 12-month high of $190.09. The company has a market cap of $98.37 billion, a PE ratio of 29.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $120.64 and a 200 day moving average of $124.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 103.80%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $163.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.76.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.