Country Trust Bank Raises Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Country Trust Bank increased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 192,525 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,250 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $33,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.4% during the third quarter. Investmark Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.19.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX opened at $177.78 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.82 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $161.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market cap of $128.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The asset manager reported $1.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.19. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.