Blackstone Inc. $BX Holdings Boosted by Huntington National Bank

Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,280 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 674 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BX. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,917 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,365,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035 shares during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 846.0% during the 1st quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 74,037 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,349,000 after purchasing an additional 66,211 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in Blackstone by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 31,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,412,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, Black Diamond Financial LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 1,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total value of $3,686,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 453,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total value of $19,852,970.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 695,757 shares in the company, valued at $122,237,547.33. This represents a 13.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 2,551,515 shares of company stock worth $67,038,327 and have sold 16,884,634 shares worth $138,445,346. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $142.94 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.84, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $157.18. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd will be paid a $1.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 147.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BX. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Blackstone from $200.00 to $199.00 in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $197.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Blackstone from $207.00 to $199.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.74.

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.