Old North State Trust LLC Has $951,000 Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Old North State Trust LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,683 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Old North State Trust LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $951,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the first quarter worth $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 921,184 shares in the company, valued at $113,305,632. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total transaction of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total transaction of $14,323,104.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BX. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.78.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $154.94 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $110.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.59 and a fifty-two week high of $161.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.47.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.90%.

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.