Geode Capital Management LLC Buys 227,416 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,542,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 227,416 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.27% of Blackstone worth $2,462,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.0% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,195,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $178,854,000 after acquiring an additional 11,451 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in Blackstone by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 205,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,679,000 after purchasing an additional 6,400 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 120,257 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $17,988,000 after acquiring an additional 7,658 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its position in Blackstone by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,467,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $219,452,000 after acquiring an additional 51,471 shares during the period. Finally, Advyzon Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 13.9% in the second quarter. Advyzon Investment Management LLC now owns 2,389 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $199.00 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $173.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $166.00 target price on shares of Blackstone and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Blackstone from $207.00 to $199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.74.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.4%

BX stock opened at $144.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $106.83 billion, a PE ratio of 41.41, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.76. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $164.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.76.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders 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 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 147.43%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider owned 737,248 shares in the company, valued at $128,015,742.72. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total transaction of $3,686,390.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 2,565,141 shares of company stock valued at $68,991,351 and have sold 185,350 shares valued at $32,368,954. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone 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.