Argus Investors Counsel Inc. Grows Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,875 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 12,192.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $908,797,000 after acquiring an additional 7,281,128 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,766,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,886 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 19,048.1% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,883,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $247,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873,573 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290,324 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 213.5% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,375,969 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $170,345,000 after purchasing an additional 937,084 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $155.38.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE BX traded down $3.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $167.44. 984,917 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,439,961. The business’s 50 day moving average is $147.84 and its 200-day moving average is $133.63. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.59 and a 12-month high of $175.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th will be given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 28th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 121.55%.

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.