Blackstone Inc. $BX Stake Boosted by Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,428 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,374 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Blackstone were worth $15,962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Family CFO Inc bought a new position in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Investors Research Corp acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Parvin Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 70.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Blackstone from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Blackstone from $208.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Blackstone in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone from $199.00 to $187.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane cut their target price on Blackstone from $178.00 to $167.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James Breyer acquired 13,900 shares of Blackstone stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $143.86 per share, with a total value of $1,999,654.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 68,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,912,817.16. This represents a 25.27% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ruth Porat bought 324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $146.92 per share, for a total transaction of $47,602.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 39,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,741,192.84. This represents a 0.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have bought a total of 797,148 shares of company stock worth $24,050,153 in the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Blackstone Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE BX opened at $157.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $116.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.07, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.75. Blackstone Inc. has a 12 month low of $115.66 and a 12 month high of $190.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $149.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.97.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 22nd. The asset manager reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter. Blackstone had a return on equity of 22.30% and a net margin of 20.56%. Equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Inc. will post 5.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 3rd were given a $1.29 dividend. This is a positive change from Blackstone’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $5.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Blackstone’s dividend payout ratio is 147.43%.

Blackstone Profile

Blackstone Inc (NYSE: BX) is a global investment firm focused on alternative asset management. Founded in 1985 by Stephen A. Schwarzman and Peter G. Peterson and headquartered in New York City, the firm organizes and manages investment vehicles that acquire and operate businesses, real estate and credit investments, as well as provide hedge fund solutions and other alternative strategies for institutional and individual investors.

Blackstone’s business is organized around several principal investment platforms.