Friedenthal Financial Acquires New Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,353 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $915,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 11.7% during the third quarter. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC now owns 6,389 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 228,859 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,101,000 after buying an additional 2,506 shares in the last quarter. Optas LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at about $248,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 4.9% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 57,474 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,819,000 after acquiring an additional 2,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at approximately $217,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 384,468 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $26.01 per share, for a total transaction of $10,000,012.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 16,525,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,818,293.17. This trade represents a 2.38% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,610. This trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have acquired 797,148 shares of company stock valued at $24,050,153. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:BX 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $159.52. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $114.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.34, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.76.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. 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. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 147.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BX. HSBC reduced their target price on Blackstone from $179.00 to $178.00 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Blackstone from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $177.00 to $176.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. BNP Paribas Exane cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $178.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.95.

Blackstone Company 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.