Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Bought by Wulff Hansen & CO.

Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 12,192.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,281,128 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for about 4.8% of Wulff Hansen & CO.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Wulff Hansen & CO. owned approximately 1.03% of Blackstone worth $908,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Moseley Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone by 0.7% during 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. increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake 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 during the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 23.7% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during 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 during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $154.58 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $88.59 and a 1 year high of $155.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business’s 50-day moving average is $137.05 and its 200-day moving average is $128.53. The company has a market capitalization of $111.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors 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 2.12%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 115.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.