Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Bought by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 118,888 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,825 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $14,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $151.88 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.59 and a 1 year high of $161.25. The firm has a market cap of $108.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BX. Barclays increased their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 target price for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.78.

Blackstone 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.