Ascent Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 57.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,999 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 7,291 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Great Diamond Partners LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter valued at about $218,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 12,266 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,096,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone by 10.4% during the third quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 4,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $714,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Finally, Benin Management CORP boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.0% in the third quarter. Benin Management CORP now owns 1,776 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on BX shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Blackstone from $173.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $178.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Evercore ISI reduced 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, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Blackstone currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.95.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $154.20 on Thursday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $148.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.02. The firm has a market cap of $113.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.06, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.29 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 147.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 384,468 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.01 per share, for a total transaction of $10,000,012.68. Following the transaction, 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 is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,610. This trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders acquired a total of 797,148 shares of company stock worth $24,050,153 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.