UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Acquires 1,138 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 30.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,826 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,138 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $597,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290,324 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in Blackstone by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after buying an additional 2,546,886 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 6,429,749 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $841,783,000 after acquiring an additional 322,860 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $708,859,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,670,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $613,581,000 after purchasing an additional 21,450 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BX shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.94.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’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 value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone 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 owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $137.11 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $134.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.67. The firm has a market cap of $97.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.50. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $88.59 and a one year high of $145.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 115.90%.

Blackstone Company 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.