Prudential Financial Inc. Buys 32,958 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 409,390 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,958 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.06% of Blackstone worth $61,237,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1248 Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Traub Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc purchased a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on BX. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Blackstone from $199.00 to $187.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Blackstone from $173.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Blackstone from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.00.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock opened at $142.59 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $105.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.74, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $159.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $158.07. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 147.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ruth Porat acquired 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 purchase, 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. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders acquired 2,565,543 shares of company stock valued at $69,050,139. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.