First National Bank of Omaha Buys New Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX

First National Bank of Omaha purchased a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 9,229 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,060,000.

• AI Data Centers Are Splitting Winners From Pretenders in Infrastructure Stocks

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,667,695 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $11,046,859,000 after acquiring an additional 840,258 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $6,112,162,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 32,862,165 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $5,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 636,613 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Blackstone by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,542,009 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,861,885,000 after purchasing an additional 179,213 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Blackstone by 3.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,538,067 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,326,762,000 after buying an additional 384,264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Blackstone from $136.00 to $132.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research raised Blackstone from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Blackstone from $122.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Blackstone in a report on Monday, June 8th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $147.95.

• Jersey Mike's Serves Fresh Gains After IPO Stumble

Check Out Our Latest Report on Blackstone

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value 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. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO David Payne sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $1,379,685.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 64,448 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,359,783.04. This represents a 12.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 1,339,180 shares of company stock valued at $35,062,433 and have sold 7,562,000 shares valued at $40,331,085. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

• AI Consolidation Begins: Blackstone & Google Forge an AI Empire

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $145.15 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $127.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.43. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The firm has a market cap of $108.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.56.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.18. Blackstone had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 21.84%.The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 35.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 6 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $1.16. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 115.44%.

About Blackstone

(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.

Recommended Stories

• Five stocks we like better than Blackstone
• Bloom Energy’s AI Surge Meets a Valuation Reality Check
• Target Is Winning Shoppers Back—Can the Rally Reach $180?
• IonQ’s Space Contract Points to a New Frontier for Quantum Investors
• Is Apple’s AI Strategy Smarter Than Skeptics Think?

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).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Should You Invest $1,000 in Blackstone Right Now?

Before you consider Blackstone, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Blackstone wasn't on the list.

While Blackstone currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.

View The Five Stocks Here