Seelaus Asset Management LLC Acquires 2,750 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 34.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,754 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,750 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up approximately 1.5% of Seelaus Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Seelaus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coastline Trust Co raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 9.1% during the third quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 28,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,330,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350 shares during the last quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 161,303 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $24,700,000 after purchasing an additional 15,600 shares during the last quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 191,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,266,000 after purchasing an additional 3,965 shares during the last quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 5.4% during the third quarter. Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 12.5% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 29,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,463,000 after acquiring an additional 3,236 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $181.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $161.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.02. The company has a market cap of $130.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $102.79 and a 52-week high of $184.34.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 118.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were 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 through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.63.

Blackstone Company 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.