Lazard Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Blackstone Inc. $BX

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 31.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,803,344 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 919,773 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up 0.8% of Lazard Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $568,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arcus Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Blackstone by 1.2% during the second quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,937 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $739,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Mattern Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 during 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 last quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 0.8% in the second quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 8,036 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,202,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WNY Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 3,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BX has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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 report on Friday, October 24th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $199.00 to $189.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of Blackstone from $166.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 14th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Blackstone from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Blackstone from $199.00 to $187.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.84.

Blackstone Price Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $151.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $150.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $158.54. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.66 and a 52-week high of $192.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.76.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were issued a $1.29 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 147.43%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, major shareholder Holdings Iv Gp Mana Blackstone bought 385,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 approximately $424,001,642.68. This trade represents a 2.42% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 113,000 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.69, for a total transaction of $19,852,970.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 695,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $122,237,547.33. The trade was a 13.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders bought a total of 2,950,751 shares of company stock worth $79,050,138 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Company Profile

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.