Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 142,026 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,254,342 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 142,026 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.18% of Blackstone worth $155,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America increased their target price on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.78.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX opened at $158.15 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.59 and a 12-month high of $161.25. The business has a 50 day moving average of $139.58 and a 200-day moving average of $129.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $113.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.88, a PEG ratio of 1.23 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 the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. 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 2.07%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.90%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

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