8,606 Shares in Blackstone Inc. $BX Bought by Ariston Services Group

Ariston Services Group purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,606 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,287,000. Blackstone comprises 0.9% of Ariston Services Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BX. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the first quarter worth $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Anderson Financial Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Family CFO Inc acquired a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth about $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.0%

BX opened at $156.37 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $115.66 and a 1-year high of $200.96. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $171.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $154.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.26 billion, a PE ratio of 42.03, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 20.47%. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 4th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 110.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $207.00 to $199.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. HSBC increased their price objective on Blackstone from $170.00 to $179.00 in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $215.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Dbs Bank raised shares of Blackstone to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $181.00 to $171.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.26.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 21,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.46, for a total transaction of $3,686,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 453,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,814,720.56. The trade was a 4.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Bx Buzz Ml-1 Gp Llc sold 16,689,884 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.26, for a total value of $104,478,673.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have acquired 2,538,345 shares of company stock worth $65,046,628 and have sold 16,984,634 shares worth $155,181,346. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Blackstone 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.