SMART Wealth LLC Makes New $214,000 Investment in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

SMART Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter valued at $806,000. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,907 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Blackstone during the third quarter worth about $509,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 158,168 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $24,220,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new position in Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $615,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.0 %

BX stock opened at $188.45 on Tuesday. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $114.88 and a one year high of $200.96. The company has a market capitalization of $136.06 billion, a PE ratio of 64.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $176.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $150.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 118.21%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. 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 the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Blackstone from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $149.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $164.69.

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.