D Orazio & Associates Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,521 Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,521 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Blackstone by 8.0% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 218,645 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,709,000 after buying an additional 16,170 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 35,096 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,611,000 after purchasing an additional 2,042 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Blackstone by 5.4% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 154,632 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $20,314,000 after purchasing an additional 7,915 shares during the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone by 12.0% during the first quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 10,658 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,400,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone by 100.8% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,034 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. 70.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total value of $7,433,289.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total transaction of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Blackstone stock traded up $1.54 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $182.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 678,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,414,863. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $158.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.01. Blackstone Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.78 and a 1-year high of $183.96. The company has a market cap of $131.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 17.53%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 28th. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 118.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BX shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Blackstone in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $157.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $157.63.

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.