Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 3,271 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on BX. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $155.38.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $177.46 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $96.15 and a 1-year high of $178.63. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.98, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.49.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Blackstone Company 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.