Sheets Smith Wealth Management Purchases 5,761 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Sheets Smith Wealth Management increased its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 55.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,149 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 5,761 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,900,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BX. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Palladiem LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $4,066,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 869,669 shares in the company, valued at $117,883,632.95. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.11, for a total transaction of $6,619,950.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 516,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $75,911,260.87. This 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 90 days, insiders bought 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $142.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $107.06 billion, a PE ratio of 31.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.56. 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 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $130.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.92.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released 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. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on BX. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Blackstone from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Monday, July 20th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.43.

About Blackstone

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.