Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Invests $1.56 Million in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,136 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,561,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arcus Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Blackstone by 1.2% during the second quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $739,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,213 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 3.5% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,784 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Sage Rhino Capital LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone by 0.8% during the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 8,036 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,202,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, WNY Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Blackstone by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $576,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $156.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $149.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $159.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.66 and a 12-month high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%.The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $1.29 per share. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 3rd. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.43%.

Insider Activity

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,610. This represents a 99.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone acquired 384,468 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $26.01 per share, for a total transaction of $10,000,012.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 16,525,117 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,818,293.17. The trade was a 2.38% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders acquired 797,148 shares of company stock worth $24,050,153 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on BX. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Blackstone from $173.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Blackstone from $173.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.95.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.