Marest Capital LLC Purchases New Position in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Marest Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 6,730 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,150,000. Blackstone comprises about 0.7% of Marest Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Arcus Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% in 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 during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.7% during the second quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $576,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Redwood Financial Network Corp raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 3,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Obermeyer Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in Blackstone by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Obermeyer Wealth Partners now owns 2,993 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 385,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $25.96 per share, for a total transaction of $9,999,999.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,332,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $424,001,642.68. This trade represents a 2.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at $21,610. The trade was a 99.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.2%

BX opened at $131.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $96.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.76. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $115.66 and a 52 week high of $190.09. The business’s 50 day moving average is $151.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $159.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The firm had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a $1.49 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.5%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 132.99%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BX has been the subject of several recent research reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $176.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Evercore reduced their price objective on Blackstone from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.77.

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.