Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Has $2.34 Million Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 733.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,715 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,069 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BX. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. 1248 Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Family CFO Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Anderson Financial Strategies LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the first quarter worth $28,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In related news, Director Ruth Porat acquired 324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $146.92 per share, for a total transaction of $47,602.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 39,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,741,192.84. This trade represents a 0.84% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 385,208 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.96 per share, with a total value of $9,999,999.68. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 16,332,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $424,001,642.68. This trade represents a 2.42% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have bought 797,148 shares of company stock worth $24,050,153. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BX shares. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Blackstone from $165.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. HSBC lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $179.00 to $178.00 in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Blackstone from $164.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.95.

Blackstone Trading Up 0.9%

BX stock opened at $156.53 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.76. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $149.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $159.48. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $115.66 and a fifty-two week high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%. Analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

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

Blackstone Profile

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.