Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Raises Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,241 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of BX stock opened at $154.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $137.05 and its 200 day moving average is $128.53. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.59 and a 12-month high of $155.18.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 115.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.78.

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.