Copley Financial Group Inc. Makes New $509,000 Investment in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,325 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $509,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BX. State Street Corp lifted its position in Blackstone by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,020,426 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,597,028,000 after acquiring an additional 348,751 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,896,413 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,272,227,000 after purchasing an additional 336,308 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased 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 worth $908,797,000 after buying an additional 7,281,128 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Blackstone by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,266,207 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $775,758,000 after acquiring an additional 141,616 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 15,357.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,201,150 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $6,433,220,000 after acquiring an additional 4,173,971 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

NYSE BX traded down $1.88 on Friday, reaching $188.42. The company had a trading volume of 3,658,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,396,843. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $176.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $149.15. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.88 and a 12 month high of $200.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.04 billion, a PE ratio of 64.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is an increase from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 118.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen raised Blackstone from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Blackstone in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Blackstone from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $188.00 to $195.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, 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. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $164.69.

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.