Man Group plc Takes Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Man Group plc bought a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 43,463 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $5,114,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Palladiem LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 26,600.0% during the 2nd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 267 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $142.63 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $107.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.91, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.55. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $101.73 and a twelve month high of $190.09. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $130.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.86. 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 (NYSE:BX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.18. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp cut their price objective on Blackstone from $190.00 to $165.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Argus raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $4,066,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 869,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,883,632.95. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 1,611,822 shares of company stock valued at $42,189,294 and have sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.