Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $143.28 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 838,642 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 46,814 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.11% of Blackstone worth $143,282,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $1,071,348,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,394,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494,796 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 16,035.1% during the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 1,140,264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $194,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,197 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in Blackstone by 31.9% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,803,344 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $568,902,000 after purchasing an additional 919,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Blackstone by 115.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $162,861,000 after purchasing an additional 583,384 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 1,146,789 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $26.16 per share, with a total value of $30,000,000.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 16,716,249 shares in the company, valued at $437,297,073.84. The trade was a 7.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $15,961,420.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone Stock Performance

NYSE:BX opened at $107.09 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $133.75 and its 200-day moving average is $149.83. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.73 and a 1-year high of $190.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $79.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.80.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.69 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $1.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 153.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on BX. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Blackstone from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $179.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $199.00 to $189.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.86.

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.