Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Acquired by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 161.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,250 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,862 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. Brighton Jones LLC grew 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 valued at $1,365,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 8.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 70,986 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,922,000 after purchasing an additional 5,473 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 167,353 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $23,393,000 after purchasing an additional 3,928 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Blackstone by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 129,545 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $18,108,000 after buying an additional 6,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 4.3% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 175,256 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,497,000 after buying an additional 7,200 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total transaction of $19,852,970.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 695,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,237,547.33. This trade represents a 13.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 384,468 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.01 per share, for a total transaction of $10,000,012.68. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 16,525,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $429,818,293.17. This represents a 2.38% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders purchased a total of 797,148 shares of company stock valued at $24,050,153 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on BX. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $173.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $173.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their target price on Blackstone from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.95.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of BX stock opened at $155.20 on Wednesday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.66 and a 1 year high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The business’s fifty day moving average is $149.24 and its 200-day moving average is $159.52. The stock has a market cap of $114.61 billion, a PE ratio of 44.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.76.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 147.43%.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.