QRG Capital Management Inc. Buys 45,669 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 80.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 102,475 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 45,669 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $12,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 27,680 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 10,157 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after acquiring an additional 678 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 66,788 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,210 shares during the last quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc acquired a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $681,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America increased their price target on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Argus increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.56.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $130.93. The stock had a trading volume of 1,416,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,543,412. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.50. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.59 and a 12-month high of $145.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $128.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.