Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC raised its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 6.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,046 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,669 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up approximately 1.1% of Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $4,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BX. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in Blackstone in the first quarter valued at approximately $7,922,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone by 25.4% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 3,885 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $510,000 after acquiring an additional 786 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 15.0% during the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 30,024 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,944,000 after purchasing an additional 3,926 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 232.8% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,158 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares during the period. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 1st quarter worth about $326,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.63.

Blackstone Stock Performance

BX stock opened at $181.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $130.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $161.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $140.18. 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 $102.79 and a 12-month high of $184.34.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. 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 yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

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.