Ascent Group LLC Acquires 2,784 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 55.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,843 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,784 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 1.8% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 431,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $53,455,000 after purchasing an additional 7,692 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2,072.0% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 36,555 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,802,000 after acquiring an additional 34,872 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $614,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,073,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter valued at about $65,050,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $163.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.78.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

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

Blackstone Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:BX opened at $153.09 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $141.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.67. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.59 and a 52 week high of $161.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $109.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.10, 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). The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.