Graypoint LLC Acquires 228 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Graypoint LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 38,924 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the quarter. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $6,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 348,751 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 336,308 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 12,192.7% during 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 holdings 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 worth $775,758,000 after buying an additional 141,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 valued at $6,433,220,000 after buying an additional 4,173,971 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BX traded down $8.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $165.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,077,164 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,703,596. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $114.88 and a 52 week high of $200.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.13 billion, a PE ratio of 56.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $180.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.25.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.86 dividend. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BX. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $174.00 to $199.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $171.00.

Blackstone 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.