Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) Shares Purchased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,931,411 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 61,739 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.54% of Blackstone worth $602,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter worth $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Trading Up 5.0 %

Shares of NYSE BX opened at $194.21 on Friday. Blackstone Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $105.51 and a fifty-two week high of $194.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $164.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.94. The company has a market cap of $140.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.74, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a $0.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Blackstone from $164.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Blackstone from $172.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $157.63.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In other news, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $68,112,883.78. This trade represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 799,749 shares in the company, valued at approximately $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.