Old North State Trust LLC Increases Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Old North State Trust LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 0.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 7,751 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 68 shares during the quarter. Blackstone accounts for about 1.0% of Old North State Trust LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Old North State Trust LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $1,187,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 32.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 255 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its position in Blackstone by 57.7% during the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 276 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Down 1.1 %

BX stock opened at $190.29 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $137.39 billion, a PE ratio of 65.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $175.41 and its 200 day moving average is $148.70. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $112.44 and a 12 month high of $200.96.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 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 given a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 118.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $125.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was 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 owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.