Ally Financial Inc. Takes Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Ally Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 23,000 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,706,000.

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Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,365,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 9.3% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. United Bank increased its holdings in Blackstone by 14.7% in the second quarter. United Bank now owns 13,528 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,024,000 after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares during the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,124,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 452,619 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $67,703,000 after acquiring an additional 8,655 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $143.56 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $107.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $128.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.44.

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Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a net margin of 21.84% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Blackstone's payout ratio is 115.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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A number of analysts recently commented on BX shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $130.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Blackstone from $143.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. HSBC reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $147.95.

Read Our Latest Research Report on BX

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Private Multi-Asset Blackstone acquired 765,111 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $26.14 per share, for a total transaction of $20,000,001.54. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 7,882,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $206,039,270.30. This trade represents a 10.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $4,066,500.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 869,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at $117,883,632.95. This trade represents a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders acquired 1,339,180 shares of company stock worth $35,062,433 and sold 7,562,000 shares worth $40,331,085. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Profile

(Free Report)

Blackstone Inc NYSE: BX is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone's business is organized around several principal investment platforms.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report).

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