Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Buys 748 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 23.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,918 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 748 shares during the quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.1 %

BX opened at $181.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $161.40 and its 200 day moving average is $140.18. The stock has a market cap of $130.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $102.79 and a fifty-two week high of $184.34.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. 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 118.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on BX. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. 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 price target on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.63.

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.