Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Raises Stake in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 42,746 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,228 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $7,303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in Blackstone by 519,669.1% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 70,132,441 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,490,411,000 after buying an additional 70,118,948 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,071,348,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Blackstone by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,394,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,796 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 31.9% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,803,344 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $568,902,000 after purchasing an additional 919,773 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 115.4% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $162,861,000 after purchasing an additional 583,384 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of the firm’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 trade represents a 99.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director James Breyer bought 13,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $143.86 per share, for a total transaction of $1,999,654.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 68,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,912,817.16. The trade was a 25.27% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 797,148 shares of company stock worth $24,050,153. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a report on Wednesday, December 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Blackstone from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Blackstone from $199.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a report on Friday, October 24th. Ten investment 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.89.

Blackstone Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE BX opened at $156.49 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $149.79 and its 200 day moving average is $161.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.56 billion, a PE ratio of 44.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.75. Blackstone Inc. has a twelve month low of $115.66 and a twelve month 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 firm had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Blackstone had a net margin of 20.56% and a return on equity of 22.30%. Research analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.29 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $5.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.