Live Oak Investment Partners Purchases New Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,512 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,113,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 385,208 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were bought at an average price of $25.96 per share, with a total value of $9,999,999.68. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 16,332,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $424,001,642.68. This trade represents a 2.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $146.92 per share, with a total value of $47,602.08. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 39,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,741,192.84. This represents a 0.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 797,148 shares of company stock worth $24,050,153. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $173.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 13th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $187.00 to $185.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $168.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.25.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $160.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $150.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.16. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.75.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.29. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. The company had revenue of $3.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 147.43%.

Blackstone Company Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.