Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,335,060 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of Blackstone worth $12,100,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BX. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Rexford Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Greykasell Wealth Strategies Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $166.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Blackstone from $168.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore dropped their target price on Blackstone from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, HSBC reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $178.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.82.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,610. This trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 385,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.96 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,999.68. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 16,332,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $424,001,642.68. The trade was a 2.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE BX opened at $129.93 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $95.94 billion, a PE ratio of 33.49, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $150.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.89.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The business had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be paid a $1.49 dividend. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 153.61%.

Blackstone 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.