Brighton Jones LLC Boosts Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,079 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BX. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report 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. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.78.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $158.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $113.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.59 and a 12-month high of $161.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $139.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.36.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced 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 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 analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.90%.

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.