Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Stake Lifted by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 123.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,812 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,952 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,453,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moseley Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.7% in the second quarter. Moseley Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,239 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,391,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% in the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 13,840 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,713,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 0.6% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 13,615 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,686,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 23.7% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 439 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 6,672 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $826,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Blackstone from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on Blackstone from $141.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $56,567,311.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.2 %

Blackstone stock opened at $149.44 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.59 and a 12 month high of $161.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.54. The stock has a market cap of $106.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 115.90%.

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.