Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC Invests $240,000 in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,570 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $240,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sather Financial Group Inc lifted its stake in Blackstone by 202.5% in the third quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 4,050 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter worth $201,000. Aljian Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,951,000. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 2,185.4% during the 3rd quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,901,000 after buying an additional 18,117 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 3.2% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,169,526 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $179,089,000 after acquiring an additional 36,343 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday. Barclays upped their price target on Blackstone from $174.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $164.69.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $190.29 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $112.44 and a 1 year high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $148.70. The company has a market capitalization of $137.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. On average, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company 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.