Blackstone Inc. $BX Stock Position Increased by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 19.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,064 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 2,460 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. 1248 Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Family CFO Inc purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $199.00 to $187.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price target on Blackstone from $178.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.00.

Blackstone Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $142.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $105.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $159.22 and its 200-day moving average is $157.92. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $200.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%. Equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.43%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total value of $19,852,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 695,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $122,237,547.33. This represents a 13.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat purchased 324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $146.92 per share, with a total value of $47,602.08. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 39,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,741,192.84. This trade represents a 0.84% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 2,565,543 shares of company stock valued at $69,050,139. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone

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.