LPL Financial LLC Acquires 47,607 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 950,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 47,607 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $145,560,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $68,112,883.78. The trade was a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $199.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.71 billion, a PE ratio of 68.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $105.51 and a 12-month high of $199.95. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $165.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.48.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BX. Bank of America lifted their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.63.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.