Whittier Trust Co. Raises Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 319,305 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,114 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $48,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 431,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,455,000 after purchasing an additional 7,692 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 2,072.0% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 36,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,802,000 after purchasing an additional 34,872 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone by 936.2% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 5,958 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $783,000 after buying an additional 5,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 17.6% in the first quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 89,072 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $11,701,000 after acquiring an additional 13,360 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Piper Sandler lowered Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of Blackstone 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The trade was a 0.00 % 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 Price Performance

Blackstone stock traded down $1.35 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $171.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,126,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,446,177. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $147.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.21 billion, a PE ratio of 60.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $175.94.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.93 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.