Verity & Verity LLC Takes Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Verity & Verity LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 11,711 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,019,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 1,617 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,840 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 156.9% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 33,052 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,699,000 after purchasing an additional 20,188 shares during the period. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 3,088 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,005,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX opened at $180.00 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.63 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $157.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. Analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.56.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.