Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. Makes New $1.36 Million Investment in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,543 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,358,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 100,951 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $15,561,000 after buying an additional 8,321 shares during the period. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at $1,340,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,046,859,000 after acquiring an additional 840,258 shares during the period. Marble Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $7,303,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 92.2% in the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 807,184 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $92,817,000 after purchasing an additional 387,109 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $143.56 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $128.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.73 and a 1 year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) 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 was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total transaction of $28,264,950.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,233.72. The trade was a 99.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total transaction of $6,619,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 516,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,911,260.87. This trade represents a 8.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and have sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BX shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. HSBC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Monday, July 20th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, June 8th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

Blackstone Company 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.