Blackstone Inc. $BX Shares Acquired by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 462,845 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,279 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $79,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,071,348,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,492,377 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,394,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,796 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone by 31.9% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,803,344 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $568,902,000 after buying an additional 919,773 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 115.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,088,786 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $162,861,000 after acquiring an additional 583,384 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 19.9% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 2,904,030 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,494,000 after acquiring an additional 482,528 shares during the period. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on Blackstone from $167.00 to $156.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Argus lowered their target price on shares of Blackstone from $195.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued 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 target price of $174.77.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Tactical Opportunit Blackstone sold 1,596,142 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $15,961,420.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,610. The trade was a 99.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 385,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.96 per share, with a total value of $9,999,999.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 16,332,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $424,001,642.68. This trade represents a 2.42% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BX opened at $129.73 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $95.80 billion, a PE ratio of 33.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $151.92 and a 200-day moving average of $159.48. Blackstone Inc. has a one year low of $115.66 and a one year high of $190.09.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The asset manager reported $1.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.17% and a net margin of 20.89%.Blackstone’s revenue was up 41.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.69 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be issued a dividend of $1.49 per share. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 132.99%.

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.