Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 61.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 329,139 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 125,264 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $50,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BX. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone during the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Price Performance

BX stock opened at $181.41 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.79 and a 52 week high of $184.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $140.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.49.

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. Blackstone had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 19.46%. The business had revenue of $2.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.37 billion. Analysts anticipate that Blackstone Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Monday, October 28th were issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. This is an increase from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 28th. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is presently 118.21%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on BX shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Blackstone from $169.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler downgraded shares of Blackstone from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $149.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research note on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Blackstone from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Blackstone from $133.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen investment 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 $157.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone

In related news, Director Joseph Baratta sold 116,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.81, for a total value of $17,561,522.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 799,749 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,610,146.69. This trade represents a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John G. Finley sold 42,249 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 owns 387,137 shares in the company, valued at $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. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone 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.