Argent Trust Co Has $9.73 Million Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Argent Trust Co raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,581 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,728,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Moseley Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.7% in the second quarter. Moseley Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,239 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,391,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 13,840 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,713,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.6% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 13,615 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,686,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 23.7% during the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 439 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.3% during the second quarter. Beaumont Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 6,672 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $826,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BX. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Blackstone from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised their price target on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 price target for the company. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The sale 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 Blackstone stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $155.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $110.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.80, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.59 and a 1-year high of $156.46.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.93 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 115.90%.

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.