Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Bought by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 62.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 126,270 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 48,534 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $21,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,827,437 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,100,868,000 after buying an additional 1,335,060 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,071,348,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Blackstone by 3.2% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,677,997 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $799,236,000 after purchasing an additional 145,056 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 0.9% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,200,194 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $628,265,000 after purchasing an additional 37,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 31.9% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,803,344 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $568,902,000 after purchasing an additional 919,773 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX traded up $4.90 on Friday, reaching $107.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,250,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,336,812. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.73 and a 52-week high of $190.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $135.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.62, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.79.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $1.49 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 153.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 1,146,789 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $26.16 per share, for a total transaction of $30,000,000.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 16,716,249 shares in the company, valued at $437,297,073.84. The trade was a 7.37% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $166.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $179.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Blackstone from $185.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.86.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.