Western Wealth Management LLC Buys 9,117 Shares of Blackstone Inc. $BX

Western Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 61.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,060 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 9,117 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,111,000 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 stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,394,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,494,796 shares during the period. Redmond Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 18,785 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,810,000 after purchasing an additional 3,281 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 346,318 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $58,337,000 after acquiring an additional 7,053 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 733.2% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 13,715 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,343,000 after buying an additional 12,069 shares during the period. Finally, Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in Blackstone by 259.8% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 22,160 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,315,000 after buying an additional 16,001 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 2,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,610. The trade was a 99.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone purchased 384,468 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $26.01 per share, for a total transaction of $10,000,012.68. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 16,525,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $429,818,293.17. This represents a 2.38% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of BX stock opened at $129.73 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $151.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.48. 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 0.61, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $95.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.44, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.69 earnings per share. Blackstone’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.49 per share. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 132.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, January 30th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their target price on Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 13th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.