PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Purchases 36,343 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX - Free Report) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,169,526 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 36,343 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of Blackstone worth $179,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,083,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Iat Reinsurance Co. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,178,000. Princeton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at $240,000. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 27.0% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,591 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,615 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased their target price on Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $157.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business'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 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. 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.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.1 %

Blackstone stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $185.03. 2,792,282 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,405,191. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $105.47 and a 52 week high of $187.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $133.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.58, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.49. The business's 50 day moving average is $163.95 and its 200 day moving average is $141.57.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.37 billion. Analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. This is a positive change from Blackstone's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone's payout ratio is currently 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.