Howland Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Howland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 55,015 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,942 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $9,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,394,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,796 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,542,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,462,706,000 after buying an additional 227,416 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $1,071,348,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,532,941 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $678,037,000 after purchasing an additional 202,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,200,194 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $628,265,000 after purchasing an additional 37,327 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James Breyer acquired 13,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $143.86 per share, with a total value of $1,999,654.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 68,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,912,817.16. This represents a 25.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 324 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $146.92 per share, for a total transaction of $47,602.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 39,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,741,192.84. This trade represents a 0.84% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 797,148 shares of company stock worth $24,050,153. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BX. HSBC reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $179.00 to $178.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $205.00 to $183.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group decreased their target price on Blackstone from $175.00 to $172.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $173.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.25.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE BX opened at $163.67 on Friday. 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 50 day moving average price is $151.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.32. The company has a market cap of $120.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.75. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.29. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. The business had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were paid 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 dividend yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 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.