Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Grows Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 100,664 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 6,202 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $14,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Sather Financial Group Inc raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 202.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sather Financial Group Inc now owns 6,050 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 4,050 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $201,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 431,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $53,455,000 after purchasing an additional 7,692 shares during the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone in the third quarter worth $1,951,000. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 2,185.4% during the third quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,946 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,901,000 after acquiring an additional 18,117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $187.00 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $111.70 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $171.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $135.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were given a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 118.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on BX. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Blackstone from $112.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $157.63.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % 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.

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.