Pacer Advisors Inc. Buys 2,412 Shares of Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,408 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,412 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $8,178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DE Burlo Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone in the 3rd quarter valued at $14,785,000. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $232,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 950,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $145,560,000 after purchasing an additional 47,607 shares in the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department increased its stake in Blackstone by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 2,100 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the third quarter worth $2,008,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Stock Performance

Shares of BX stock opened at $199.05 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $143.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.40, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Inc. has a 52 week low of $105.51 and a 52 week high of $199.95.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The asset manager reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.37 billion. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 28th were paid a $0.86 dividend. This is a boost from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. Blackstone’s payout ratio is 118.21%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone

In related 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 value of $17,561,522.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.94, for a total transaction of $7,433,289.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,112,883.78. This represents a 9.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on BX shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Blackstone from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $171.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Blackstone from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup increased 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. Thirteen investment 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.com, Blackstone currently has a consensus 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.