Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Takes Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 431 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $66,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.7% in the third quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,374 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 0.5% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 13,926 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,132,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.1% in the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 5,743 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $879,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 stock in a transaction dated 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 $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.6 %

NYSE:BX opened at $199.05 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $105.51 and a 12 month high of $199.95. The firm has a market cap of $143.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $165.86 and its 200-day moving average is $142.62.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. Equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on BX shares. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.63.

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.