Equitable Trust Co. Increases Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Equitable Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 9.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,472 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,045,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 58.7% during the first quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 3,514 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 3.3% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 56,806 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,463,000 after acquiring an additional 1,837 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 8.0% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 218,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,709,000 after purchasing an additional 16,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 35,096 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,042 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $177.46 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $96.15 and a twelve month high of $178.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $138.08. The firm has a market cap of $128.13 billion, a PE ratio of 60.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.49.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.38.

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.