Ballast Advisors LLC Has $2.86 Million Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Ballast Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 7.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,093 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,241 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up about 0.8% of Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Ballast Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Arcus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $739,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 8,036 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,202,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,549 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $980,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McAdam LLC grew its position in Blackstone by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 1,762 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Blackstone from $173.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $190.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $200.00 to $199.00 in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.26.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $154.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $113.92 billion, a PE ratio of 44.16, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.77. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $170.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.02.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%. On average, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 117.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total value of $8,829,594.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 737,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $128,015,742.72. This trade represents a 6.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total value of $19,852,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 695,757 shares in the company, valued at $122,237,547.33. This represents a 13.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 2,538,345 shares of company stock worth $65,046,628 and have sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Blackstone

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.