Centaurus Financial Inc. Purchases 3,821 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 15.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,821 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BX. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth approximately $17,568,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. AXS Investments LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. 63.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $112.75 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $80.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a fifty day moving average of $102.94 and a 200 day moving average of $92.38. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.72 and a fifty-two week high of $114.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The asset manager reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.01. Blackstone had a net margin of 17.92% and a return on equity of 16.99%. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. Blackstone’s quarterly revenue was up 347.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 191.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings I/Ii Gp L. Blackstone sold 14,704,603 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.98, for a total transaction of $117,342,731.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $347,943.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Holdings I/Ii Gp L. Blackstone sold 14,704,603 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.98, for a total transaction of $117,342,731.94. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 43,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $347,943.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 85,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.08, for a total transaction of $7,911,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,060,448 shares in the company, valued at $98,706,499.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,402,086 shares of company stock valued at $198,963,771 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Thursday, July 20th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, September 5th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $105.00 to $117.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.97.

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.