Blackstone Inc. $BX Stock Holdings Lifted by EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 12.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 62,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,996 shares during the quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays upped their price target on Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, HSBC restated a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, July 20th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.76.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $133.97 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $101.73 and a one year high of $190.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $121.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $99.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.42 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.98 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd will be paid a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.80%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,014 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.79, for a total transaction of $3,775,461.06. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 899,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,169,363.51. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone purchased 573,614 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.15 per share, with a total value of $15,000,006.10. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,455,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,118,071.70. The trade was a 7.28% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 10,825,959 shares of company stock valued at $224,789,900 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.