River Street Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

River Street Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,889 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 614 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises about 1.2% of River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,280,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Blackstone by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,766,875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,546,886 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 7,281,128 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,266,207 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $775,758,000 after purchasing an additional 141,616 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 0.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 4,670,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $613,581,000 after purchasing an additional 21,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 15,357.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,433,220,000 after acquiring an additional 4,173,971 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.63.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock traded up $0.20 on Friday, reaching $181.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,893,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,417,253. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.79 and a 52 week high of $184.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $161.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.02. The company has a market capitalization of $130.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The business 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. This is an increase 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%.

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.