Appleton Partners Inc. MA Boosts Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Appleton Partners Inc. MA raised its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 100,281 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the quarter. Blackstone comprises about 1.1% of Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Appleton Partners Inc. MA’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $15,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 12,192.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 7,340,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $908,797,000 after buying an additional 7,281,128 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 7.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546,886 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the fourth quarter worth $290,514,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 19,048.1% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,883,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $247,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873,573 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290,324 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE BX opened at $152.21 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $88.59 and a one year high of $161.25. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $142.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $131.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.78, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.78.

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.