Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc. Has $8.61 Million Stock Holdings in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,526 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,223 shares during the quarter. Blackstone makes up 8.8% of Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 4th quarter worth about $708,859,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Blackstone by 7.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 36,285,872 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,766,875,000 after buying an additional 2,546,886 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 4th quarter worth approximately $290,514,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Blackstone by 19,048.1% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,883,409 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $247,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873,573 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 2.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,262,972 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,442,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290,324 shares in the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Blackstone news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,610,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 429,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,567,311.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.00, for a total value of $14,323,104.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 921,184 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,305,632. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on BX shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on Blackstone from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Blackstone from $144.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Blackstone in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.94.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock traded up $1.78 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $142.36. 3,421,587 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,497,822. Blackstone Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.59 and a 52-week high of $145.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.50.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.03). Blackstone had a net margin of 19.35% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 5th. Investors of record on Monday, July 29th were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 29th. Blackstone’s payout ratio is currently 115.90%.

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.