KCM Investment Advisors LLC Buys 3,965 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 191,117 shares of the asset manager's stock after acquiring an additional 3,965 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $29,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America increased their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $157.63.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock traded up $0.15 on Friday, hitting $181.36. 2,893,571 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,417,253. The stock has a market cap of $130.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $102.79 and a 1-year high of $184.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $160.51 and a 200-day moving average of $139.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. 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 payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

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.