Van ECK Associates Corp Has $208.33 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,770,478 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,103 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $208,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strive Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Palladiem LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 26,600.0% during the second quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 267 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Holdings Iv L.P. Blackstone acquired 272,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $7,126,861.88. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 8,704,419 shares in the company, valued at $227,533,512.66. This represents a 3.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $117,883,632.95. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 1,611,822 shares of company stock worth $42,189,294 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on BX. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $140.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Blackstone to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $149.43.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock opened at $142.63 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $130.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.92. The firm has a market cap of $107.06 billion, a PE ratio of 31.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

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.