Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Acquired by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 61.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 329,139 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 125,264 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in Blackstone were worth $50,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone 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 value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 9.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $181.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,893,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,201,941. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $102.79 and a 1-year high of $184.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $161.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $140.18.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This is a boost from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Blackstone's dividend payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company 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 MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $157.63.

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.