Quantbot Technologies LP Takes $758,000 Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,440 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $758,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Palladiem LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 7,477,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.78, for a total value of $28,264,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 19,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,233.72. This represents a 99.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $4,066,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $117,883,632.95. This represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $143.25 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The stock has a market cap of $107.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.68.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 35.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Blackstone from $139.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. HSBC reissued a “hold” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, July 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $119.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.95.

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.