12,739 Shares in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Purchased by Aljian Capital Management LLC

Aljian Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 12,739 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,951,000. Blackstone makes up approximately 0.5% of Aljian Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Planning Directions Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $236,000. Claro Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 5.0% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 6,095 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $933,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 6.3% during the third quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC now owns 28,046 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,669 shares during the period. Sather Financial Group Inc raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 202.5% in the third quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 4,050 shares during the period. Finally, River Street Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Blackstone by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 14,889 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,280,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.1 %

BX opened at $181.41 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $161.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.34. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.79 and a 52 week high of $184.34. The stock has a market cap of $130.98 billion, a PE ratio of 62.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.49.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. As a group, research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BX. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.63.

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.