Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Position Raised by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 28,027 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,292,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 979.9% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 1,771 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,607 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 87.2% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 166,413 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,482,000 after buying an additional 77,537 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 24,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,744,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 136.4% during the third quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 759 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Finally, United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,979,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler cut Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.63.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $181.21 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1 year low of $102.59 and a 1 year high of $184.34. The company has a market capitalization of $130.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a $0.86 dividend. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services.