Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Takes $10.11 Million Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 108,694 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $10,105,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 0.3% in the second quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 36,615 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,404,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 4.7% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,247 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,817 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC raised its holdings in Blackstone by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 9,158 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $851,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Means Investment CO. Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 25,960 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,414,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. 63.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Blackstone stock opened at $104.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.10, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.47. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.72 and a fifty-two week high of $116.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $103.32 and a 200 day moving average of $97.67.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 19th. The asset manager reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $2.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.60 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 16.76% and a net margin of 21.29%. The company’s revenue was up 140.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.06 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 30th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 27th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 134.45%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 29,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.39, for a total transaction of $2,762,461.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 424,863 shares in the company, valued at $39,253,092.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 29,900 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Monday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.39, for a total value of $2,762,461.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 424,863 shares in the company, valued at $39,253,092.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings I/Ii Gp L. Blackstone sold 14,704,603 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.98, for a total value of $117,342,731.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $347,943.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,812,942 shares of company stock worth $128,543,218 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $102.00 to $111.00 in a report on Friday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Blackstone from $97.00 to $94.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 20th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Blackstone in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. HSBC initiated coverage on Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 6th. They set a “hold” rating and a $113.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Blackstone from $118.00 to $113.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.22.

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.