Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) is North Star Investment Management Corp.’s 10th Largest Position

North Star Investment Management Corp. trimmed its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 176,163 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 3,707 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up approximately 1.9% of North Star Investment Management Corp.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $26,976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290,324 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546,886 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 12,192.7% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $908,797,000 after buying an additional 7,281,128 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Blackstone by 2.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,266,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $775,758,000 after acquiring an additional 141,616 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,670,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $613,581,000 after purchasing an additional 21,450 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.38.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX traded up $2.20 on Tuesday, reaching $169.24. The stock had a trading volume of 727,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,412,544. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $121.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $154.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.69. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $96.15 and a 12-month high of $175.94.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone 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.