Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Purchased by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,962 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,245 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $3,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Blackstone by 175.4% in the second quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 4,891 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $732,000 after buying an additional 3,115 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 13,336 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. Smart Money Group LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 3,458 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 1.8% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 18,255 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,731,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Finally, Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone by 23.4% in the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,158 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,866,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.8%

BX opened at $146.00 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $165.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $157.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.61 billion, a PE ratio of 41.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.76. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 147.43%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider Vikrant Sawhney sold 50,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.64, for a total value of $8,829,594.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 737,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $128,015,742.72. The trade was a 6.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James Breyer purchased 13,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $143.86 per share, with a total value of $1,999,654.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 68,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,912,817.16. This trade represents a 25.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 2,565,415 shares of company stock worth $69,037,981 and have sold 16,875,234 shares worth $136,847,628. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone from $173.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 24th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their price target on Blackstone from $178.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.74.

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.