Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Purchased by Meitav Investment House Ltd.

Meitav Investment House Ltd. raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 337,613 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 95,022 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $57,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth $28,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Rexford Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, RMG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE BX opened at $163.67 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $120.86 billion, a PE ratio of 46.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.32. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.14 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.02 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 147.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 324 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $146.92 per share, for a total transaction of $47,602.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 39,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,741,192.84. The trade was a 0.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James Breyer purchased 13,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $143.86 per share, with a total value of $1,999,654.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 68,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,912,817.16. This represents a 25.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 797,148 shares of company stock worth $24,050,153. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.25.

Blackstone Company 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.