First Pacific Financial Buys 285 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

First Pacific Financial raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,225 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Blackstone by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,934 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 50.2% during the 2nd quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 682 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. OMNI 360 Wealth Inc. now owns 5,827 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $721,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Marietta Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC now owns 53,035 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,566,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares during the period. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,792,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

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

Blackstone Stock Up 0.3 %

Blackstone stock traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $134.63. The stock had a trading volume of 2,145,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,527,129. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.57, 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’s 50-day moving average price is $129.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.49.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Argus upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.65.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.