Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Acquires 3,562 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 26.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,141 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,562 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $2,956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BX. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 3.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 58,777 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,277,000 after purchasing an additional 2,002 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 3.9% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,079 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $753,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 1.5% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 11,770 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,457,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Blackstone by 100.5% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,119 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,253,000 after acquiring an additional 5,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Blackstone by 4.5% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 50,996 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $6,313,000 after acquiring an additional 2,206 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Blackstone from $168.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $175.00 to $174.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Blackstone from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Price Performance

Blackstone stock opened at $180.00 on Monday. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.63 and a 52-week high of $200.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $180.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $158.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.86, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.53.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.10. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.