Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. Buys 11,180 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 216,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 11,180 shares during the period. Blackstone comprises 1.5% of Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Baltimore Washington Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $32,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Arcus Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 2.8% during the second quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.5% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 8,036 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,202,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WNY Asset Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, Director James Breyer purchased 13,900 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $143.86 per share, for a total transaction of $1,999,654.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 68,906 shares in the company, valued at $9,912,817.16. The trade was a 25.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 385,208 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.96 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,999.68. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 16,332,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $424,001,642.68. This trade represents a 2.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 2,950,751 shares of company stock valued at $79,050,138. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.1%

Blackstone stock opened at $145.04 on Thursday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $194.23. The stock has a market cap of $107.10 billion, a PE ratio of 41.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $156.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.02.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 147.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $173.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Dbs Bank raised Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Blackstone from $199.00 to $187.00 in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.00.

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.