Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Holdings Raised by Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,046 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,669 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises about 1.1% of Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BX. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter valued at $7,922,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 25.4% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,885 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $510,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its stake in Blackstone by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 30,024 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,944,000 after acquiring an additional 3,926 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 232.8% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,158 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth about $326,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX opened at $181.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $161.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $102.79 and a 12-month high of $184.34.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s 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 $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group upped 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $157.63.

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.