Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,494,796 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.52% of Blackstone worth $10,394,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. 1248 Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Blackstone from $200.00 to $199.00 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $178.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.00.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $138.60 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $162.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $157.99. The stock has a market cap of $102.35 billion, a PE ratio of 39.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 147.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $146.92 per share, with a total value of $47,602.08. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 39,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,741,192.84. This trade represents a 0.84% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders bought a total of 2,565,543 shares of company stock valued at $69,050,139 over the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.