Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 1,468 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $11,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Blackstone from $148.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Blackstone from $145.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In other Blackstone news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 35,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now owns 429,386 shares in the company, valued at $56,567,311.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 1.5 %

BX opened at $172.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $123.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.90, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.59 and a 12 month high of $175.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $147.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.22.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.58 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 166.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 28th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 115.90%.

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.